


Smugleaf's Journey

by animatedrose



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Battling, F/M, Gen, Gym Leader battles, Physical Abuse, Pokemon centric, Smugleaf hates humans, Verbal Abuse, Violence, bad role models, dream mist illusions, female Rufflet, from Snivy's POV, from my old fanfiction.net account, journeying across the region, liberation speeches, old, stealing pokemon, these guys have special moves, transition from wild to caught Pokemon, unlikely to be continued
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 35,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24671119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animatedrose/pseuds/animatedrose
Summary: Snivy just wanted to live a free life in the wild. Sadly, he's captured by a human named Darren and given the name Smugleaf. Now he's stuck traveling across Unova with a bunch of crazy and stupid teammates. Why would anyone want to be a slave to a human?Things only get worse when Team Plasma is added to the mix.
Kudos: 1





	1. Why Do All Good Things Come To An End?

Sunlight filtered in through the leaves of the lush treetops overhead, bathing the green grass of the forest with sunlight. A light breeze caused the leaves to dance and the grass to sway gently. Cheerful birdsong echoed through the treetops. It was another beautiful day…

…but it was nowhere near peaceful.

“Stupid Rattata! That’s _mine_! Back off!”

“Make us, lizard face!”

In a small clearing deep within the forest, a fight over territory had broken out. This was very common due to the large amount of wild Pokémon inhabiting the area. Many were common species but, on occasion, Pokémon not native to the forest will appear.

On one side was a green reptile with a cream-colored underside. A yellow stripe ran down the length of its back and tail. It had yellow markings around its large brown eyes. Yellow curved structures protruded from its shoulders and bent backward. It had slender green arms with three fingers and tiny cream feet. A large leaf with three prongs grew from the end of its tail.

On the other side, surrounding a large bush overflowing with juicy berries, was a group of small rats. They had purple fur on their backs and cream-colored fur on their stomachs. They had long whiskers and long, slightly curled tails. The most notable feature was their large teeth.

“Yeah! Make us!” one of the rats taunted.

“This is ours now!” another cried. “Go away!”

“I claimed that first,” the lizard growled, small hands curling into fists. “You’ve got plenty of berry bushes. Leave mine alone, you stupid rats!”

“No! This one’s the best! It’s ours now!” one of the rats declared. “Besides, this territory isn’t even yours! You don’t even belong here!”

“So? I worked hard to get this place,” the lizard said firmly. “I’m not letting you take it from me. Now _back off_!”

“Make us!” the Rattata group dared.

They began to scurry around the bush. Some started to paw at the ground while others tore the leaves. The lizard stood his ground, refusing to be goaded into attacking. His stubbornness waned when some of the Rattata dared to nibble at the berries. When the pack actually began to eat them, he allowed himself to strike.

“I said _back off_!” he yelled.

A pair of green vines erupted from the yellow structures on his shoulders. The twin vines began lashing out at the rats, smacking and spanking and tossing them around. All the while, the lizard let a smug smirk cross his features. The Rattata quickly began to retreat, unable to stand up against the lizard’s devastating attacks.

Once all of the rats were gone, the vines withdrew into the yellow structures. The lizard approached the ruined berry bush, noting that many of the berries were either half-eaten or entirely gone. The leaves were shredded and the ground had claw marks engraved in it. It was barely recognizable anymore.

Frowning, the lizard turned and left the berry bush behind. He’d let the Rattata have it. It was worthless to him now that most of the berries were gone.

_“Besides, this territory isn’t even yours! You don’t even belong here!”_

The lizard frowned, coming to a stop by the riverbank. He stared at his reflection before smacking it with his tail. Then he began to drink, forcing the Rattata’s words from his mind.

He sat up, wiping water from his mouth with his arm. “They’re just jealous,” he said with a smirk. “They’ve never left this forest. I have. They don’t know what’s out there. They think this forest is all the world has to offer. It’s not even close. Stupid Rattata… What do they know? Their heads are full of fluff compared to mine.”

He stared at his reflection again and frowned. For a moment, he was certain he had seen… No, it couldn’t be. _He_ was long gone now.

“What do they know?” he repeated firmly.

He stood up and left the river.

.o.o.o.o.

Seashell yawned, her white arms stretching above her head. She flopped down on her back in the grass, watching the clouds go by overhead. Her large dark eyes blinked tiredly, exhaustion weighing on them heavily.

Seashell was an Oshawott, the Water-type starter Pokémon of the Unova region. She looked very similar to a small otter. She had round white head with small triangular dark blue ears on the sides. There were speckles on the sides of her face, which were actually extremely short whiskers. Her torso was light blue, as were the bubble-like features that made up a collar around her neck. A pale yellow seashell, probably the cause of her name, was attached to her stomach but could easily be removed. She had dark blue feet and a slightly plank-shaped dark blue tail. If she opened her mouth, a pair of fangs could be seen.

A loud thump, followed by lighter thud, caused her to roll onto her stomach. Sitting only a few feet away was her trainer. He called himself Darren. He was the one to give her the name ‘Seashell’. She was still getting used to the name, but it sure sounded nice.

They had been traveling through this forest for the past day and a half. Darren spent most of the time training her to get stronger. Seashell shivered as she remembered all the Pokémon she had been pitted against.

_Why do I have to fight?_ she wondered, lowering her head sadly.

**“Huh? Hey! Seashell, look!”**

Seashell looked at Darren just as the ten-year-old jumped to his feet. He was pointing across the river. The Oshawott followed his finger and blinked in surprise.

Across the river, drinking peacefully, was a Snivy. Seashell had known one back at the lab before she had been given to Darren. She had never known there were wild Snivy.

**“Perfect! Seashell, let’s go!”** Darren declared, already off and running toward the riverbank. **“We’ve got to catch it!”**

“Huh?!” Seashell yelped, bounding after him. “But…I’m no good against Grass-type Pokémon!”

Sadly, Darren, being human, couldn’t understand her. He simply kept running, deeming her cry as one of joy instead of one of fear. He had his heart set on catching himself that Snivy.

.o.o.o.o.

The lizard left the river behind, reentering the forest. A single sniff confirmed that the Rattata group had indeed taken the ruined berry bush as part of their own territory. He didn’t care much anymore. He had something else to do at the moment.

It didn’t take much searching to find them. It was a pair of acorn-like Pokémon and a green spider with a black face on its abdomen. He didn’t hesitate to lunge toward them. The trio didn’t even have a chance to cry out.

A single swipe of his tail tossed the green spider, a Spinarak, against a tree trunk. Vines emerged from his shoulder structures, wrapping around the two Seedot and throwing them around. Something sharp hit him in the back, causing the lizard to whip around and set the acorn Pokémon loose. The Spinarak was back on its feet, throwing purple needles at him from its mandibles.

_Poison Sting,_ he realized.

He dodged the next few, avoiding getting poisoned. The vines emerged again, grabbing the spider and throwing it into the Seedot. All three collapsed into a pile, defeated. The lizard smirked triumphantly before walking away.

His next opponent came from above. A Pidgey, flanked by two Taillow, shot down from the treetops to ambush him. He easily dodged them before catching the two dark blue and red birds with his vines. He pinned their wings to their sides, preventing them from flying away. Then he spun around, using the trapped pair as makeshift weapons against their Pidgey leader. The little brown and white bird was quickly knocked from the sky, crashing to the ground.

He dropped the Taillow duo, hitting them with his vines before proceeding to do the same with the Pidgey. All three were defeated just as easily as the Spinarak and the Seedot were. He was actually beginning to grow bored defeating them.

“These guys are weak,” he muttered. “They were a challenge when I first came here, but now…”

He shook his head in disappointment, walking away. He headed back toward the river, wanting to clean the dirt off of his body. Once the shore came into sight, he smirked and left the trees behind.

**“Now, Seashell! Use Water Gun!”**

_A human? Here?! Impossible!_ The lizard quickly jumped back, dodging a blast of water. _Why are humans this deep in the forest?_

He turned to face a young boy, no doubt a new trainer, and an Oshawott. He did a double-take at seeing the Water-type. It had been a long time since he had last seen one of those. He smirked upon seeing that she was trembling. She was scared…

**“Seashell, use Water Gun again!”** the boy ordered. **“Don’t let it escape!”**

“Too bad, kid,” he muttered. “I’m not about to be caught.”

“Sorry, mister Snivy,” the Oshawott, obviously a female from the voice, apologized.

The lizard, a Snivy, frowned. “Keep your apologies. I don’t need or want them,” he said coldly.

The Oshawott, Seashell as the human seemed to call her, responded by shooting water at him. The Snivy dodged again, lunging forward this time in retaliation. Vines erupted from his shoulders, whipping at the Oshawott and sending her sailing backward into her trainer’s legs. They both fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

The vines withdrew. “Leave,” he said firmly.

The boy stubbornly sat up, eyes widening in shock as he watched the Snivy begin to walk away. **“Oh no, you don’t! Seashell, time to use our secret weapon!”**

“Secret weapon?” the Snivy chuckled, stopping in his tracks. “What else could you possibly throw at me, human? Your little otter is no match for me. You just refuse to admit it.”

The Oshawott nodded, getting back on her feet shakily. “O-okay!” she said, trying her hardest to sound brave.

_She’s terrified,_ the Snivy thought. A smirk crossed his lips. _This’ll teach her to try winning a battle that she’s already lost!_

He whipped around, leaves emerging from his shoulder structures. They floated in front of him, apparently refusing to fall to the ground. With a flick of his tail, the leaves suddenly shot toward the Oshawott. She didn’t even have time to cry out before she was overwhelmed. The boy cried out in shock but sat on the ground, paralyzed. The Snivy frowned.

“This is why I hate humans so much,” he muttered. “They try to act like our best friends but when we really need them, they abandon us to save themselves. Humans can’t be trusted to do anything right. You were better off leaving when you first had the chance, Oshawott. I hope you choose your path more wisely next time.”

The leaves suddenly dispersed, fluttering to the ground. The battered Oshawott lay sprawled on her back. The Snivy could see blood staining her fur. So she bruised easily, huh? Pathetic…

He turned his back on them, walking back toward the forest. _That battle… It was the first truly exciting one I’ve had in quite some time. That thrill… It’s good to feel that again. Too bad it may be the last time..._

He suddenly realized that the human was talking. He tuned in, wondering if maybe the boy had another Pokémon for him to fight. Not that he’d care if the human didn’t, but…

**“There we go, Seashell! Now let’s hit him!”**

“Huh?!” The Snivy whipped around, blinking in shock upon seeing the Oshawott back on her feet.

“Again, I’m sorry,” she apologized, pulling the seashell off of her stomach.

“Wha—”

**“Seashell, hit him with Air Slash!”** the boy yelled, eyes gleaming in triumph.

_No,_ the Snivy thought. _A Water-type…with a Flying-type move?!_

“This’ll hurt a bit, mister Snivy,” the Oshawott said, raising the seashell and pointing it at him. “But everything will feel better when you wake up, I promise.”

“Keep your promises. I’m not going anywhere,” he said calmly, forcing himself to keep his cool. _She’s bluffing! She’s got to be bluffing! How could she know Air Slash?!_

“I’m afraid you are,” she said solemnly.

She tossed her seashell high into the air, slashing it in the Snivy’s direction the moment she caught it again. The Grass-type stepped back in fear as three gray shuriken covered in blue energy erupted from the shell, shooting straight at him. He dodged the first one by just an inch but failed in dodging the other two. Pain erupted from his back and his chest as the two energy blades hit him. He crashed to the ground on his front.

He struggled to stay conscious. The human boy stepped forward, pulling out an all-too-familiar red and white sphere. _No,_ he thought. _Not again… Please, not again…_

**“Pok** **é Ball, go!** ” the boy cried, tossing it at him.

_No…_ The Snivy’s eyes fell closed in pain. _No…_

Something hard bonked his forehead, causing him to groan. He struggled to open his eyes but the pain kept them closed, blinding him to his fate. The ground seemed to melt away beneath him, making him feel dizzy and sick. All that combined with the pain forced him unconscious, reluctantly surrendering to the human boy’s Poké Ball.

_No… Why? I was free for so long… Why did I have to be captured again? Why…?_


	2. Smugleaf vs. Braviary

**“Come on out, Smugleaf!”**

_Huh? Who is…?_

The Snivy groaned as a tugging sensation pulled him back to consciousness. At first, all he saw was darkness. Barely a second later, white light engulfed him and his feet abruptly hit the ground. When the light vanished, the Snivy stumbled forward and crashed onto his hands and knees. A shake of his head cleared the brief dizziness away.

_I’ve forgotten what it was like in one of those,_ he thought, rubbing his head. _Wait! One of those…?_

The Snivy suddenly jumped to his feet, whirling around to face his captor. It was a human boy with slightly messy brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes. By his side stood an Oshawott, no doubt the same one that hurt him when he was…

The Snivy’s brown eyes widened in shock and fear. _I was captured,_ he realized. _I was captured…again! No!_

The boy gave a goofy grin. **“Man, does he look strong or what? He’s definitely staying on the team!”**

_Team?_ The Snivy suddenly smirked. _Oh, that’s right. He’s just a beginner! It shouldn’t be too hard to ditch him. That last one was dumb enough. This one shouldn’t be any smarter!_

The boy turned away. **“Seashell, why not introduce yourself to Smugleaf? I’m sure you two will get along great!”**

The boy turned and headed toward a tent. The Snivy looked around, realizing they were in a clearing. They were still in the forest!

_At least it won’t take forever to get back home,_ he thought in relief.

“H-hi, Smugleaf,” a timid voice greeted.

“Huh?” The Snivy turned to see it was the Oshawott. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

“Well, Darren said we should be friends,” the Oshawott replied, smiling.

“Darren? You mean the human?” the Snivy asked.

“Yep! He’s our trainer!” the Oshawott nodded. “Oh! I’m Seashell. That’s what Darren calls me.”

“Don’t tell me I’ve been given a name too,” the Snivy groaned.

“Darren says you’re called Smugleaf,” Seashell replied.

“Smugleaf?” the Snivy repeated, confused. “What the heck is a Smugleaf?”

“Well, Darren says you looked real smug during our battle. You also have a leaf on your tail.” Seashell explained. “At least, I think that’s where he got it from.”

“And you’re Seashell because of the seashell on your stomach, obviously,” Smugleaf pointed out. “What dumb names…”

“I think they’re really good, Smugleaf!” Seashell argued.

“Don’t call me that!” Smugleaf barked, glaring at her. “I’m not Smugleaf! I have no name and I don’t want one! I don’t want a trainer either!”

“But Darren caught you,” Seashell reminded, suddenly nervous.

“I don’t care! I’m out of here!” Smugleaf turned away, storming off.

“Wait, Smugleaf!” Seashell cried, darting after him. “There’s a—”

_A few minutes later…_

“You went over the freaking _mountain_?!” Smugleaf yelled.

Smugleaf and Seashell were standing on the edge of a sheer cliff. Smugleaf’s former home was many hundred yards below, too far for him to ever hope to return in time to reclaim his territory. It was probably gone by now, stolen by the Rattata. They had gotten their wish after all. He was out of the forest…forever.

“I don’t believe you _did this!_ ” he shouted, whipping around to glare at Seashell. “Do you know how long it took me to get that tiny piece of territory? _Weeks!_ How many Pokémon I had to fight daily to keep it? _Dozens!_ ”

“I’m sorry, Smugleaf. Things will be better now, though.” Seashell said, smiling. “Darren will take care of yo—”

“I don’t _want_ to be taken care of! I want to be _back home_ and _left alone!_ ” Smugleaf yelled, stomping closer until he was nose-to-nose with Seashell. “But _no!_ _You_ had to step in and steal me away from my home!”

“I-I-I’m sorry, Smugleaf!” Seashell whimpered, tears springing up in her eyes.

“No, you’re not! If you were sorry, you’d take me home and _never_ come back!” Smugleaf snarled. “But your trainer won’t do that! _No_ trainer would! Humans are selfish creatures! Once they have something, they’ll _never_ let it go!”

“B-b-but I—” Seashell stuttered, tears running down her cheeks.

“But _nothing_!” Smugleaf interrupted, stepping forward again and forcing Seashell back a few steps. “You don’t care. _Nobody_ does. I’m just a wild Pokémon to you. I’m something to be captured and tamed by your trainer until I’m just like you, a lover of humans. Well, you’ve got another thing coming. I _hate_ humans! And I _always_ will! _Nothing_ will change that!”

Seashell fell on her bottom, tears falling to the ground. She stared up at the Snivy in fear.

“This is all your fault,” Smugleaf hissed, giving her his most evil glare. “You know that, right? You caused me to get caught. Just like I hate humans, I hate Pokémon raised by them. I _hate_ you. And until the day I’m released, I’ll make every single day your worst. That’s a promise.”

Smugleaf began to walk past her without another word. Seashell stared at the ground, the tears increasing. The Oshawott hiccupped, struggling to speak.

“I-I *hic*… I’m s-sor *hic*… I’m sorry, S-Smug *hic*… Smugleaf…” she squeaked, her voice high-pitched and slightly cracked.

Smugleaf stopped. “No, you’re not,” he said coldly. “And you never will be.”

He walked away, heading back toward the tent that Darren had set up. Seashell remained where she had fallen, continuing to cry soundlessly. Smugleaf never looked back.

.o.o.o.o.

It had begun to rain not long after Smugleaf returned to the tent. Darren was there, fiddling with his Pokédex. The boy had unclipped both Poké Balls from his belt, placing them beside him on his sleeping bag. The Snivy eyed them, identifying his own Poké Ball by smell.

Darren put the Pokédex down, looking at the tent entrance. **“What’s taking Seashell so long?”**

“Pathetic crybaby,” Smugleaf muttered, plopping down on the sleeping bag. “She wouldn’t survive a day—heck, an hour—in the wild. I was right. Tamed Pokémon _are_ weak…”

Darren stood up. **“Stay here, Smugleaf. I’ll be back once I find Seashell,”** he said.

Smugleaf smirked. _Bingo,_ he thought.

The boy stepped out of the tent and into the pouring rain, dashing away with his hands over his head. The moment he was out of sight, Smugleaf got to his feet and headed for the Poké Balls. He picked up his own, glaring at it.

“I’m free,” he said firmly, raising his tail over the red and white sphere.

A loud scream stopped him. The Snivy whipped around, facing the still-open tent entrance. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed outside. Smugleaf turned to look at the sphere again.

“Stupid thunder,” he muttered, raising his tail a second time.

Another scream, louder this time, stopped him. Smugleaf froze, recognizing the cry as one of pain. Before he knew what he was doing, the Snivy rocketed out of the tent and into the surrounding forest. He searched, brown eyes scanning the passing trees and bushes for an injured Pokémon.

A bit of orange caught his eye, causing the Grass-type to quickly change direction and dash for it. When he entered the clearing, he quickly identified the attacker and the victim. He was shocked at what the victim happened to be.

Lying on the soaked grass, rain pounding its tiny form, was an orange piglet Pokémon. It had a ruddy-pink nose and a thick yellow stripe crossing its snout. Much of its face was black, two long black ears rising above its head. They were currently drooped under the weight of the falling rain, though. The ends of its forelegs were black, as was its hind end. A coiled tail extended from its behind, a red bauble on the tip of it.

Smugleaf recognized it instantly as a Tepig, the Fire-type starter of Unova. It looked exhausted and horribly weak, no doubt from both the rain and its attacker. The Snivy looked up to glare at the other Pokémon, unafraid of its menacing appearance.

A large eagle Pokémon was hovering nearby, flapping its wings from time to time in order to stay airborne. It had a blue face and a yellow beak with a blue cere above the beak. A dark red three-pointed crest was just above the cere, extending into three feather plumes. Similar plumes were present on the sides of its face. A feathery mane covered the back of its head and neck. Its back and the upper sides of its wings are dark red, the undersides of both being navy-colored. Spiky feathers grew on the upper portions of its large yellow talons, which possessed sharp nails. Three toes were pointing forward and one toe was pointing backward. Its tail feathers were mainly red with a yellow stripe and blue tipping.

The eagle landed on the ground, spread its wings, and unleashed a loud cry. Smugleaf stood his ground, positioning himself between the Flying-type and the weakened Tepig. Vines erupted from his shoulders, waving threateningly at the eagle Pokémon.

The Flying-type charged, angered by the display. Smugleaf slammed his vines against it, only for the eagle to knock them aside with its wings. It suddenly lunged, its beak ramming against the Snivy’s chest and sending him flying into a tree behind him. He crashed into it and sunk to the ground, gasping.

He could feel the wound on his chest where the beak’s tip pierced him. It wasn’t deep, but it was painful. For a second, he feared the Tepig would be slain while he recovered. Those thoughts were quickly dashed when sharp claws hit his side, throwing the Grass-type across the clearing. The eagle wasn’t through with him yet.

Smugleaf groaned, pain lancing through his chest and left side. The eagle was approaching, feathers puffed up in anger. When it was close enough, it raised one foot and flexed the talons on it. Then it reared back, about to lunge.

The bird suddenly squawked, jumping to the side. Smugleaf barely noticed the thin plume of black smoke coming from the Flying-type’s tail feathers. They had ignited somehow and the tips were burnt. The small fire was quickly doused by the rain.

“Humph!” a small voice huffed.

Smugleaf whipped his head around, looking toward where the Tepig lay. The Fire-type had apparently woken up and, despite its weakened state, forced its upper body up on its forelegs. Smoke rose from its nostrils. It was panting for breath, obviously tired.

The eagle whirled around, talons aglow. It flapped its wings, hovering briefly before lunging toward the Tepig. It shrieked in rage, talons in front of it in order to strike the Fire-type.

“Hey, birdbrain! I’m not done with you!” Smugleaf shouted, getting to his feet.

Glowing leaves erupted from his shoulder structures, floating in front of him. A flick of his tail sent them soaring directly at the Flying-type’s back. The eagle cried out in pain, overshooting the Tepig and crashing to the ground behind it. It slowly struggled to rise, chest heaving.

A single sweep of its wing unleashed a blast of wind that sent Tepig tumbling across the clearing. When it came to a stop, the piglet fell limp. It was knocked out by the attack.

Smugleaf called up more leaves, only to be thrown back as another blast of wind erupted from the eagle’s wings. His back connected with a tree, the leaves he had summoned falling to the ground harmlessly. The Snivy’s brown eyes struggled to focus as the bird advanced on him, blood dripping from its back where the last set of leaves had hit it.

_Is this it?_ Smugleaf wondered, his vision growing dark on the edges. _Am I going…to die here?_

The eagle was close enough to strike now. It raised a foot, talons aglow once more. Just as it readied to attack, it quickly turned its head away. Large wings flapped, carrying it into the sky as a group of silvery shuriken hit the place where it once stood.

**“Use Air Slash again, Seashell! Don’t let it get away!”**

_Sea…shell… Darren…_ Smugleaf thought. _They came…_

Smugleaf struggled to lift his head, only for stars to burst in his vision. He slumped against the tree, too hurt and tired to fight unconsciousness. As he faded away, he heard the sounds of battle intensify as the eagle struggled to stay free.

Just as Smugleaf had unsuccessfully tried to do back at his home…

.o.o.o.o.

**“Come on out, Smugleaf!”**

Smugleaf blinked tiredly as his feet touched the ground. He couldn’t remember being returned to his Poké Ball. Darren was standing in front of him, Seashell by his side. And in his arms was…

_The Tepig!_ Smugleaf realized, memories of the fight against the eagle Pokémon returning to him.

**“That was a pretty cool fight, Smugleaf! I wish I could’ve seen the whole thing!** ” Darren laughed. **“Too bad I couldn’t catch that Braviary. It was too strong…”**

“Braviary?” Smugleaf repeated.

“Th-that’s what th-that Pokémon w-was,” Seashell squeaked, partially hiding behind Darren’s leg. “It b-beat you and that T-Tepig up. You were l-lucky we c-came when we d-did or you’d have b-been bird food.”

Smugleaf frowned, huffing as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I could’ve beaten it if I hadn’t been protecting that Tepig,” he argued sourly.

“So you _were_ protecting him!” Seashell cried. “I knew it!”

“What?” The Snivy stared at her in confusion.

Before the Oshawott could reply, Darren spoke up. **“Come on, guys! We’ve got to get to the next town and get this guy fixed up!”** he called from further down the trail. **“I used my last Potion on Smugleaf, so we have to find a Pokémon Center for this little guy!”**

“Why did he use it on me?!” Smugleaf demanded.

“Potions don’t work on fainted Pokémon,” Seashell replied, keeping close to Darren.

“…Oh,” Smugleaf blinked at the revelation.

The three of them headed further down the trail, heading deeper into the forest in search of the next town. Not once did Smugleaf notice that Seashell was purposely avoiding him. The Snivy simply stared at Darren’s back, his mind on the Tepig alone.

_I saved him,_ the Grass-type realized. _But…why?_


	3. Tepig's Plea

**“There it is!”** Darren cried. **“We’re home, Seashell!”**

“Yay! We’re home!” the Oshawott cheered.

“Home?” Smugleaf repeated, confused.

The Snivy looked at the small town in front of them, only to freeze. He remembered this place. He had been here before.

_This is where…_ Smugleaf shook his head. _No! I don’t want to remember! Why? Why did we have to come back?!_

“Smugleaf?” Seashell looked at the Grass-type with concern. She reached out to touch his shoulder with a paw. “Are you oka—”

“Don’t touch me!” Smugleaf yelled, pulling away. He glared at her fiercely. “Get away from me!”

“Smugleaf, I—” Seashell was quickly cut off by the Snivy.

“I said get away!” Smugleaf shouted.

With a whimper, the Water-type retreated behind Darren’s leg. Smugleaf continued to glare at her. Darren began to head down the path toward the town, still carrying the weakened Tepig in his arms. Seashell obediently followed him. Smugleaf refused to follow.

“I’m not going there,” he muttered. “Not now, not ever…”

Darren stopped, noticing the Snivy wasn’t following. **“Smugleaf, come on!”**

“No!” Smugleaf growled. “You can’t make me!”

The boy frowned. **“Okay, you asked for it.”**

Smugleaf’s stony expression turned into one of terror as the boy pulled out the Grass-type’s Poké Ball. The Snivy turned to run, only for the beam of red light to hit him. He was engulfed in darkness within seconds…

.o.o.o.o.

It was dark. That was all Smugleaf could tell about being in a Poké Ball. That was all he knew about them.

He hated being inside of a Poké Ball. There was only pitch black, suffocating, all encompassing darkness. He felt like he was drowning in black water that he couldn’t see, hear, smell, taste, feel… It was horrible. He hated it.

Maybe that was part of the reason he chose to flee from his first trainer. He was always stuck in a Poké Ball. He was only let out to fight. Then it was back into this wretched darkness again.

Why couldn’t the other Pokémon see it like this? Did they enjoy this darkness? How could they? Are they insane? Or is it him who is insane?

Smugleaf didn’t know. He didn’t care either. He wanted out, out of this horrible darkness. He wanted to see the sun again, to be in the light.

Why must he always be trapped in the dark…?

.o.o.o.o.

**“Come out, Smugleaf!”**

The Snivy was better prepared when his feet hit the ground, just barely stopping himself from falling. Straightening himself, Smugleaf shook briefly to rid himself of the dizziness of exiting a Poké Ball. Then he looked up.

Smugleaf jumped back in shock. It was that woman! The one who gave him to his first trainer so long ago!

**“My, so you did find a Snivy,”** she said with a light laugh. She looked up at Darren. **“You say you found him in the forest, right? He must’ve run away from his old trainer. You better keep a close eye on him. He’ll break his Poké Ball and run away if you aren’t careful, Darren.”**

 **“Got it!”** Darren nodded.

“No… He brought me back,” Smugleaf whimpered, taking a step back.

“Are you okay, Smugleaf?” a timid voice from behind him asked.

“WAAAH!!” Smugleaf whipped around, slapping his tail against his supposed attacker.

“Yow!” Seashell fell backward, landing on her bottom. She placed her left paw against her left cheek, where the Snivy’s tail had slapped her. “That hurt, Smugleaf!” she whined.

“Shut up! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Smugleaf yelled, glaring at her. “Do that again and I’ll hit you harder!”

**“Smugleaf!”**

“Huh? Wha—AAAH!!” Smugleaf thrashed as hands grabbed him by his middle, picking him up from the metal table he and Seashell had been on. “Put me down!”

“ **Seashell, are you okay? Smugleaf, what’s gotten into you?”**

It was Darren. Smugleaf growled, pulling away from the boy the moment he was set on another metal table. He glared at Darren angrily, but the boy was already fussing over Seashell’s bruised cheek.

**“I don’t think he likes it here, Prof. Juniper,”** a woman with dark blue hair and glasses said.

**“I have to agree, Fennel,”** the professor woman nodded.

“Of course I don’t like it here. I _hate_ it here!” Smugleaf grumbled. “Too many bad memo…ries…”

The Snivy trailed off as his eyes caught sight of something orange. He turned to see it was the Tepig that he had saved in the forest. It was lying on another metal table nearby. It was hooked up to a bunch of machines.

Smugleaf dropped onto all fours and circled once, twice, three times…and made a diving leap off of his table. Darren, Seashell, Prof. Juniper, and Fennel all gasped upon witnessing it. The Snivy succeeded in landing on the other table and slowly walked over to the immobile Tepig.

“Just how bad did that dumb bird hurt you?” he wondered.

**“Smugleaf…”** Darren said, only to be ignored by the Snivy.

**“I think he’s worried about the Tepig,”** Prof. Juniper commented. **“You said it was attacked by a Braviary, correct?”**

 **“Yeah,”** Darren nodded. **“Smugleaf fought it off before Seashell and I arrived. If he hadn’t been there, I don’t think your Tepig would’ve survived. Not under the combined forces of that Braviary and the rain.”**

 **“Agreed,”** Fennel said. **“What a horrible chain of events. If only I was more careful, this would’ve never happened. He’s so young, too!”**

Prof. Juniper looked at Darren. **“Thank you for bringing Tepig back to me,”** she said.

Darren gave a goofy grin. **“No problem, Professor! Anytime! It gave Seashell and I some bonding time, not to mention that we caught Smugleaf along the way. If you ever need help again, just call!”**

 **“Hopefully that won’t be necessary. Cheren and Bianca are already ahead of you in their journeys,”** Prof. Juniper reminded. **“You best get started or you’ll never catch up to them.”**

 **“Yeah,”** Darren chuckled.

Fennel suddenly approached the table that Tepig and Smugleaf were on. The Snivy growled briefly at her before backing off, allowing her to unhook the Fire-type from the machines. She backed up immediately afterward when Smugleaf lunged forward to bite her hand when she tried to pet the Tepig’s head.

**“He’s pretty protective, huh?”** she giggled.

**“Indeed, he is,”** Prof. Juniper turned to Darren. “ **My Tepig should be okay now. Thanks again for bringing him back.”**

 **“Again, it was no problem,”** Darren picked up Seashell. **“We better get going. I hope that Tepig finds a nice trainer to care for him.”**

 **“You won’t take him with you?”** Fennel asked.

**“Huh? Why would I?”** Darren asked.

**“Your Snivy seems very protective of him. Why not take him with you too?”** she questioned.

**“Oh, I’d love to! Honestly, I would!”** Darren reassured awkwardly. **“But…well, I’m having a hard enough time trying to get Smugleaf to obey me. I don’t know how Tepig will react to me.”**

 **“Oh,”** She lowered her head sadly. **“That’s understandable.”**

 **“Don’t forget that he’s only just begun his journey, Fennel,”** Prof. Juniper pointed out. **“Two should be enough to start with. Tepig will find a good home soon enough when our next few beginning trainers come in.”**

 **“Right!”** Fennel nodded.

Darren set Seashell on the ground. **“Come on, Smugleaf! We’re leaving!”** he called.

“Finally!” The Snivy bounded toward the edge of the table.

“Huh? Wait… Where are you going?” the Tepig asked, blinking sleep out of his eyes.

“Out of here,” Smugleaf replied with a smirk. “Don’t get into trouble, okay? I won’t be there to save you.”

Smugleaf jumped off of the table, quickly bounding after Darren and Seashell. The Tepig struggled to stand up and shakily walked to the edge of the table. He gasped.

“Wait! Don’t leave me!” he cried, suddenly afraid. “Please, Mr. Snivy, don’t go! Take me with you, please!”

Smugleaf stopped at the door, turning back to look at the Fire-type. _Why am I stopping? Why should I care if he’s being left behind?_

**“Professor, what’s wrong with him?”** Fennel asked, frightened by the Tepig’s sudden crying.

Prof. Juniper turned to look at Smugleaf, then at the Tepig, then back again. She chuckled lightly. **“I believe the choice has been made for us,”** she noted.

**“Huh? What do you mean, Professor?”** Fennel asked, confused.

Darren stopped just outside of the door of the laboratory, realizing Smugleaf wasn’t following. **“Smugleaf, come on. What’s wrong now? I thought you couldn’t wait to leave.”**

The Snivy ignored him, never once taking his eyes off of the Tepig.

Darren groaned. **“We’re doing this again, huh? Fine…”**

The moment Darren pulled out Smugleaf’s Poké Ball, the Grass-type suddenly dove back toward the table that the crying Tepig was on. He scaled the leg of the table in seconds, coming to a stop upon reaching the Fire-type’s side. The crying instantly stopped, reduced to sniffles. Smugleaf frowned, lightly hitting the Tepig on the head with his leaf.

“Stop crying,” he said firmly. “It won’t get you anywhere. If you want to be with me so much, then fine. You can come with.”

“Really?! Thanks, Mr. Snivy!” the Tepig cried.

“It’s…Smugleaf,” the Grass-type reluctantly corrected. “My name…is Smugleaf.”

**“Smugleaf! What are you…?”** Darren just stared at them in shock.

**“It seems your Snivy has decided to bring my Tepig along, with or without your permission, Darren,”** Prof. Juniper said. She picked up a Poké Ball on the counter beside her, holding it out to Darren. **“Here is his Poké Ball. Take care of him, Darren.”**

 **“But I—”** Darren yelped, only to be silenced by Prof. Juniper’s finger to his lips.

**“Just take him,”** she advised gently. **“Your Snivy had already made that decision and appears to be sticking to it. You may as well just go along with it and take him. Maybe it’ll even make training your Snivy easier.”**

 **“…Okay,”** Darren sighed.

“Just climb on and hang on tight, okay?” Smugleaf ordered, kneeling down so the Tepig could crawl onto his back.

“Okay… I’m on!” the Fire-type cried.

With a single leap, along with a loud cry of surprise from the Tepig, Smugleaf landed on the floor. The Tepig slid off his back, struggling to still his trembling legs. The Snivy smirked, only to hiss threateningly as Darren knelt near them. The Tepig, confused, darted behind Smugleaf.

**“I guess you’re staying with us, Tepig. What should I call you?”** The boy tapped his chin in thought. **“Hey… How about Charcoal? That sounds nice!”**

“Char…coal?” the Tepig repeated, blinking in confusion.

“It’s your new name,” Smugleaf grumbled. “We all have one.”

“Oh… Okay!” The Tepig darted out from behind Smugleaf, grinning. “I’m Charcoal!”

“Hi, Charcoal!” Seashell greeted, bounding up to see him. “I’m Seashell!”

“WAAAH!!” Charcoal dove behind Smugleaf, frightened.

“Huh? Oh! I’m sorry, Charcoal!” Seashell yelped, realizing her mistake. “I didn’t mean to scare you, honest! I’m so, so sorry, really!”

“Would you _shut up_?” the Snivy snapped, glaring at the Oshawott. “Can’t you see you’re scaring him _more_?”

“Huh?” Seashell took a step backward, suddenly wary.

Before Smugleaf could say anything else, Darren spoke. **“Okay, guys, let’s get going. We’ve got a long walk to the next town.”**

“Next town?” Charcoal repeated, peering out from behind Smugleaf to look at Darren. “Oh, he looks nice.”

“He’s not,” Smugleaf argued. “He’s human, and humans are anything _but_ nice.”

“That’s not tr—” Seashell started to say, only to be cut off by Smugleaf.

“It _is_ true!” he yelled.

Seashell fell silent, fighting back tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of the Snivy and be called a crybaby again. After a few minutes, Smugleaf spoke again. This time, he was calmer but his words still had a sharp edge to them.

“I’m only staying because I can’t get home and I’m not about to leave Charcoal alone with this guy,” he said, looking to the side so he wouldn’t have to look the Water-type in the eyes. “I’ll stay and help you…do whatever it is your human wants to do. But remember this, Seashell. Things are going to go _my_ way now, okay? It’s my way or no way. Got it?”

“G-got it,” Seashell nodded, trembling. _Do I even have a choice but to agree?_

“Good,” Smugleaf smirked. “Then we’ll get along just fine. Let’s go. The human’s calling.”

“Where are we going?” Charcoal asked, bounding cheerfully after Smugleaf.

“Who knows?” the Snivy shrugged. “Probably to fight,”

“I don’t like fighting,” Charcoal whimpered. “It’s scary.”

“You’ll have to learn how if you hope to stay out of the humans’ boxes,” Smugleaf said.

He then proceeded to explain how the boxes were used to trap Pokémon the humans no longer wanted or couldn’t bring with them due to some mysterious limitation the humans had. Charcoal followed him, hanging onto every word. Seashell hung toward the back as they exited the laboratory, head hung sadly.

_Why must he still hate me?_ Seashell thought, barely suppressing a sniffle.

Lingering further back, she let the tears come. She silenced her sobs, not wanting to be heard. If Smugleaf or Charcoal heard her, they didn’t bother to look back at her. The Oshawott cried in silence as they left Darren’s hometown far behind them.


	4. Training and Arguments

**“We’re on our way~! To the first Po~ké~mon Gym~!”** Darren sang happily.

“Will he _ever_ stop singing?” Smugleaf growled, hands clapped over his ear slits as he tried to drown out the annoying noise.

“I think it’s nice,” Charcoal commented.

The Snivy growled even louder when Charcoal began to hum along to Darren’s made-up song. He was tempted to knock them both into next week. Instead, he pressed his hands tighter against his ear slits and kept walking.

**“First Po~ké~mo…?”** Darren stopped singing, coming to a stop. **“Finally! Hey, guys! Heads up! It’s time to train!”**

“Oh no! Not again!” Seashell whimpered.

“What’s wrong?” Charcoal asked, turning to face the Water-type. “Is training bad?”

“There’s tall grass ahead. See it?” Seashell indicated the longer grass in front of Darren. “Anytime you go into tall grass like that, wild Pokémon will jump out and attack you.”

“No duh,” Smugleaf said. “You’re trampling through their territories, maybe even their homes. _Of course_ they’ll attack you. Are you _that_ dumb?”

“I’m n-n-not d-d-dumb!” Seashell stuttered, trembling.

“You must be if you don’t know that,” Smugleaf shrugged. “All you human-raised Pokémon are like that. You’re all hopeless.”

“But…I was raised by humans, Smugleaf,” Charcoal whimpered. “Does that mean I’m *sniff*… That I’m useless, too?”

“You’re not useless, Charcoal,” the Grass-type replied. “There’s still hope for you. You haven’t been trained by a human to fight, unlike a certain _someone_.”

“D-Darren t-t-taught me how t-t-to fight r-r-really well!” Seashell argued weakly.

“Oh, really?” Smugleaf asked, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“W-w-well…” The Oshawott suddenly giggled. “I kicked your butt, after all.”

“You were lucky!” Smugleaf snarled, glaring at her. “I thought you were beaten! My guard was down! It won’t happen ever again! Got it?!”

Seashell simply giggled in response. Smugleaf growled and turned his back on her, crossing his arms angrily. Charcoal looked between the two in confusion, unsure of what to do.

Darren solved the problem by picking up all three Pokémon and dropping them into the long grass. **“There! Now let’s train, you guys!”** he cried.

“But I don’t want to!” Seashell wailed.

“I’m scared, Smugleaf,” Charcoal whimpered, edging closer to the Grass-type.

“Don’t be,” the Snivy advised. “Wild Pokémon can smell your fear.”

“What?! No way!” Seashell shrieked, terrified.

“Really?!” Charcoal asked, a mixture of fear and curiosity crossing his childish face.

“Depends on the Pokémon,” Smugleaf replied, smirking at the Oshawott’s reaction. _That was too good to pass up,_ he thought. _I’m definitely going to have fun torturing you, Seashell._

As if trying to prove Smugleaf’s words correct, a tan puppy jumped out at them. It had large eyes and a red nose. Its face was covered in lots of cream fur. Small spiky extensions were near the lower edges of its ears. Fur puffs were above its paws and a spiky black stripe was on its back. Its tail was spiky and looked similar to its ears.

“WAAAH!!” Seashell screamed, diving behind Smugleaf.

“HELP!!” Charcoal wailed, joining the Water-type in hiding behind Smugleaf.

“What am I to you guys? A shield?” Smugleaf asked, frowning. “Pitiful…”

**“Sweet! A Lillipup!”** Darren cried. **“Smugleaf, use Vine Whip on it! Go easy, okay? I want to catch it!”**

_Oh, really? Catch it, eh?_ The Snivy smirked. _Since when do I take orders from you?_

The Lillipup lunged in order to use Tackle, only to be tossed far into the grass by Smugleaf’s tail. Darren gaped when the puppy fainted. The boy quickly regained his grin when another Lillipup appeared to challenge the Snivy.

“Another one? Geez!” Smugleaf grumbled. “Go away!”

Another smack of his tail sent the puppy flying into the grass, never to return. The Snivy grinned at seeing Darren’s defeated expression. With a heavy sigh, Darren led the way to the next patch of long grass.

**“Seashell, try to show Smugleaf what I mean,”** Darren pleaded.

“B-but I don’t w-want to,” the Oshawott whimpered.

“Then you must be weaker than I thought,” Smugleaf taunted.

“I-I’m not w-w-weak!” Seashell argued. “And I-I’ll p-p-prove it!”

The Water-type bravely stepped forward, only to jump in fright as another Lillipup jumped out at her. Seashell forced herself to stand her ground, however. She slammed into the puppy’s side with Tackle and then shot a Water Gun in its face. The puppy yelped, backing up in confusion and fear.

**“One more Tackle, Seashell! Then it’s ours!”** Darren cheered from behind her.

The Oshawott did as she was ordered, ramming into the Lillipup once more. The puppy struggled to stay standing, only to fall flat on its face in the grass. Seashell stepped aside as Darren tossed a Poké Ball at it.

Smugleaf gasped, lunging forward in an attempt to intercept the red and white sphere. He ended up crashing into Seashell, sending them both falling to the ground. The Snivy threw her off, only to gasp as the Lillipup was engulfed in white light. He dashed toward it, tail raised in order to smash the sphere.

**“Smugleaf, what are you doing?!”**

Darren quickly snatched up the Grass-type just as the Poké Ball pinged. Smugleaf’s struggles ceased instantly at the ominous noise. Charcoal and Seashell watched the Snivy, confused by his actions. A grin slowly crossed Darren’s face as he realized what had just happened.

**“I caught it,”** he whispered. **“I caught it. I caught a Lillipup! Sweet!”**

Putting Smugleaf down, the boy proceeded to scoop up the Poké Ball containing his newly caught Lillipup and dance through the grass patch in joy. Smugleaf fell to his hands and knees in shock. Charcoal cautiously approached him. Seashell stayed back, suddenly afraid.

“Smugleaf?” the Tepig said softly. “Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” Smugleaf growled. “I couldn’t stop it.”

“Stop what?” Charcoal asked.

“The human! I couldn’t stop him! Him and his stupid capture sphere!” the Snivy shouted, slamming a fist into the dirt. “I couldn’t stop them!”

“Stop them?” Charcoal repeated. “Why did you need to stop them, Smugleaf? Did they do something bad?”

“Something horrible,” Smugleaf hissed.

“What horrible thing?’ Seashell dared to ask.

“You should know! You just helped!” Smugleaf shouted, glaring at her.

“H-huh?!” the Oshawott yelped.

“That human… He’s so _stupid_!” Smugleaf got to his feet shakily, breathing harshly in anger. “But you know _what_?”

“W…what?” Seashell squeaked.

“ _You_ are even _stupider_ for _obeying_ him, Seashell,” the Snivy said, lifting his head to glare at her. “You just stole another innocent Pokémon from their home, just like you did to me. And he was just a kid, too. You probably don’t care, though. You sure didn’t care when you guys stole me from my territory.”

“I-I was j-j-just obeying o-orders!” the Oshawott argued.

“And that’s what makes you human-raised Pokémon so _stupid_! You blindly listen to humans without any thought about _what_ exactly you’re doing!” Smugleaf snarled. “You make me sick.”

“I-I…” Seashell tried her hardest to hold back the tears that threatened to flow.

“I hope you’re happy to be tearing families apart, Seashell,” Smugleaf turned his back on the Water-type, walking away.

“Uh… Wait up, Smugleaf!” Charcoal dashed after the Snivy.

Seashell fell back onto her bottom and buried her face into her paws. She let herself cry for the third time that day.

.o.o.o.o.

Smugleaf sat down on the edge of the grass patch, frowning. He could hear Seashell crying in the grass behind him. He didn’t care, though. Why should he? This was her fault. She deserved it.

“Smugleaf?”

“Yeah, Charcoal?” the Snivy replied, staring straight ahead.

The Tepig sat beside him, swallowing back his fear. “Why did you yell at Seashell? She’s crying…”

“She deserves it,” the Grass-type replied. “She and that human boy, Darren, stole me from the forest I lived in. I couldn’t go back because we were too far away by the time the human let me out of my capture sphere. I was going to destroy it and escape, but I’m still here because I don’t want to leave you alone with him.”

“Maybe you could destroy both of our captu…? Captoor…?” Charcoal shook his head. “The red and white balls!”

“You wouldn’t last a day in the wild, even with me around,” Smugleaf replied. “If you were stronger, I definitely would.”

“Awww!” the Fire-type groaned. “But…did you have to make her cry?”

“No,” the Snivy replied. “She cries a lot. I don’t care. Let her cry. It’s her fault, stealing that kid away from his home like that simply so the human can have a new Pokémon on the team.”

“Oh…” Charcoal lowered his head sadly. _I don’t like it. Why does she have to cry? Can’t we all get along?_

**“Hey, guys! Let’s keep going!”** Darren cried, ending his victory dance.

Seashell rubbed her eyes and slowly got to her feet. Smugleaf got up, frowning as he approached Darren. As he passed Seashell, the Oshawott flinched away. Charcoal gave a quiet whimper as he trotted behind the Grass-type, sending Seashell a sympathetic look. The Water-type sniffled, slowly trailing behind them as they headed toward the last patch of grass.

The moment they stepped into the grass, a chipmunk jumped out at them. It was mostly brown with a tan stomach and face. It had a long and straight tail with a scruffy white tip. A large pointed tooth stuck out of its mouth. It had a flat face and round cheeks. Its ears were small and pointed. Its head had a black band that covered its eyes, which had red irises with a yellow ring and black pupils. Its feet were small and black with three toes on each foot.

**“Whoa! A Patrat!”** Darren cried. **“Charcoal, you’re up! Time to battle!”**

“Me?!” the Tepig yelped. “B-but I…”

“Just do your best,” Smugleaf said, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. “Try to faint it if at all possible. If it gets too hard, run away. I’ll deal with it then, okay?”

“O…okay!” Charcoal nodded, smiling. “I’m going!”

The Fire-type bounded forward. The Patrat snorted upon seeing him, shaking its head. Charcoal gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to growl at it.

**“Hit it with Ember, Charcoal!”** Darren ordered.

“Take this!” Charcoal cried.

The Tepig took a deep breath and shot a cloud of red-hot embers from his snout. The Patrat yelped, scrambling to dodge the attack. A few embers hit it, singeing the chipmunk’s fur. The Patrat was quick to retaliate, ramming into Charcoal with Tackle.

**“Now use Tackle!”** Darren yelled.

“Right! Here I come!” Charcoal announced.

He lunged, slamming into the Patrat’s chest. The chipmunk stumbled back, shaking its head to clear its vision. The Tepig grinned triumphantly, readying to attack once again.

Then he saw Darren pull out a Poké Ball. Smugleaf’s words toward Seashell came back to him.

_“You just stole another innocent Pokémon from their home, just like you did to me. And he was just a kid, too. You probably don’t care, though. You sure didn’t care when you guys stole me from my territory.”_

Then he remembered what Smugleaf said to him.

_“She and that human boy, Darren, stole me from the forest I lived in. I couldn’t go back because we were too far away by the time the human let me out of my capture sphere.”_

The last bit of that conversation also returned to him.

_“It’s her fault, stealing that kid away from his home like that simply so the human can have a new Pokémon on the team.”_

Just as Darren tossed the Poké Ball, Charcoal lunged with Tackle. The Tepig pushed his speed to its maximum limit, trying desperately to beat the sphere to the unsuspecting Patrat. He and the sphere were practically neck-in-neck now. Charcoal lunged with a final burst of speed…

The Patrat vanished in a beam of white light. Charcoal couldn’t stop himself as he hit the ground face-first, dirt and grass going up his snout as he slowly slid to a stop. Opening his eyes, he suddenly realized what had happened.

_I failed,_ he thought, tears welling up in his eyes. _I couldn’t save that Patrat! I couldn’t stop that ball! I failed Smugleaf!_

Darren repeated his victory dance when the Poké Ball pinged, signaling another successful capture. Smugleaf glared at the boy before approaching Charcoal. He could see the Fire-type shuddering as sobs wracked his tiny body.

“You did your best,” he said, resting a hand on Charcoal’s back.

That only caused the piglet to cry harder. Smugleaf sat beside him, waiting patiently for the crying to end. Seashell didn’t dare approach, afraid of getting chewed out by the Snivy again. Instead, she watched Darren’s dance.

It didn’t make her feel better…about anything.


	5. Friends or Slaves?

**“Wahoo! We made it!”** Darren cried.

They had finally reached the next town. After going to the Pokémon Center to heal everyone up, Darren had decided to bring out the newest additions to his team. Lillipup and Patrat stood in front of Darren.

**“Now then, what should I name you two?”** He paced in front of the Pokémon Center, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

“Where are we? What’s going on?” the Lillipup asked, frightened.

“What does it look like? We’ve been caught by a human,” the Patrat replied, frowning.

“Hi! I’m Seashell!” Seashell said. She pointed to Smugleaf and Charcoal. “Those guys are my teammates, Smugleaf and Charcoal. Welcome to Darren’s team!”

“I don’t want to be here! I want to go home!” the Lillipup whimpered.

“Not me! I’m fine being here,” the Patrat declared. “I’ve wanted to leave that grass patch for ages! It’s about time someone caught me!”

“You actually _wanted_ to be enslaved by a human?!” Smugleaf demanded.

“It’s better than sitting around all day, bored out of your mind,” the Patrat pointed out.

“You’re nuts,” the Snivy decided.

“Then you must be crazy, because I’m pretty sure I’m normal,” the Patrat countered, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing Smugleaf suspiciously. “Funny… I thought the humans only got to have one of you guys. How come this guy’s got all three of you?”

“I was his official starter,” Seashell started to explain, only to be cut off by Smugleaf.

“She was already with the human, I was stolen from my home by them, and Charcoal tagged along because he likes me,” the Grass-type summarized.

“Yep!” Charcoal agreed, a big smile crossing his face.

“I take it you don’t like him. The human, I mean,” the Patrat guessed.

“You hit the nail on the head,” Smugleaf nodded.

**“I’ve got it!”** Darren suddenly cried. He moved to kneel in front of Lillipup and Patrat. **“Yorkie and Buck! How do those sound?”**

“Yorkie? Is that me?” the Lillipup asked.

“Buck? Well… It’s better than Fluffy or Cuddles,” the Patrat muttered. “I’ll take it.”

“Welcome to the team, Yorkie, Buck!” Seashell greeted happily.

“Glad to join!” Buck replied with a hearty grin.

“I’m scared,” Yorkie whimpered.

“It’s not that bad, really,” Charcoal reassured, hopping over to the puppy. “Just stick with Smugleaf. You’ll be okay then!”

“Really?!” Yorkie asked, looking hopefully at Smugleaf.

The Snivy sighed before nodding. “Sure, why not? I’m already teaching Charcoal how to fight. Why not teach you at the same time?” He looked at Buck. “You want to join too?”

“Not to offend you or anything, but I prefer to learn things my own way,” Buck replied. “I’ll pass on the offer, Smuggy.”

Smugleaf froze, left eye twitching. “Smuggy?” he repeated icily.

“Yeah,” Buck nodded. “Smuggy. Got a problem with it?”

“Actually, I do,” the Snivy growled.

“Well then, cry me a river, build a bridge, and _get over it_.” Buck replied with a smirk. “…Smuggy,”

“That’s it! I’m gonna—” Smugleaf lunged at the Patrat, only to be held back by Charcoal and Yorkie. “Let me at him!”

“No! We’re supposed to be friends, Smugleaf!” Charcoal cried, pushing against the Grass-type’s chest. “Friends don’t fight!”

“He’s not my friend!” Smugleaf snarled, swiping his hands at the Normal-type.

“Teammate then!” the Tepig corrected himself.

“Please stop this, Smugleaf!” Yorkie pleaded, teeth snapping shut on the Grass-type’s leafy tail. “It isn’t worth it! You can’t beat his strange logic!”

“I don’t care!” Smugleaf yelled, struggling to get loose of the pair.

Darren smiled as he saw his Pokémon interacting. **“Awww! It looks like they’re already becoming great friends! Cool!”** he laughed.

**“Who are those guys?”**

**“I don’t know. They’re sure making a racket, though.”**

**“Huh?”** Darren looked up to see a big group of people gathered nearby. **“What’s going on? Maybe we should check it out. Come on, guys!”**

“Huh?” Smugleaf stopped struggling, looking up at Darren in confusion.

“We’re leaving already?” Charcoal complained.

“I doubt it,” Seashell replied. “I think Darren’s interested in that group over there.”

“Looks like trouble to me,” Buck commented.

“I don’t want trouble,” Yorkie whimpered.

Darren headed toward the group, his Pokémon following behind. He was close to the front, so he could see the odd people that the group was staring at. It was a line of men and women dressed in blue knight-style uniforms. Standing in front of the line was a man with light green hair and a strangely-patterned robe.

“What a weird-looking human,” Smugleaf muttered.

“At least ours doesn’t dress like that weird guy,” Buck laughed. “The journey hasn’t even started and I’m seeing weird stuff already!”

**“Can I get everyone’s attention?”** the strangely-dressed man called.

Everyone fell silent.

**“I am Ghetsis!”** he continued.

“A weird name for an even weirder guy,” Smugleaf said.

**“I am here to tell a tale of a legendary beast. A beast not seen by many humans!”** Ghetsis continued.

“Boring!” Buck groaned.

“Quiet! I want to hear!” Seashell hissed.

Ghetsis began to pace in front of the line of strangely-dressed men and women. **“We have been living side by side with Pokémon as partners. Is that what we are really doing? Are they really our equal, or are we the ones controlling them? We make them battle everyday and we teach them nothing but violence! So…are they really our equal? Or are they our tools of war?”**

Smugleaf perked up. “He’s weird…but he’s saying just what I am.”

“Huh?” Buck looked at the Snivy. “What? You agree with that weird human?”

“Yeah! He’s proving what I’ve been saying all along!” Smugleaf nodded. “About time somebody finally figured it out. I never thought it would be a human, though.”

**“What our intentions are mean no harm to any of you!”** Ghetsis reassured. **“I believe we choose to ignore what we are really doing! I was one of you… A so-called Pokémon Trainer, someone who USES them… It is actually really sad to see this happening.”**

**“What?”**

**“I can’t believe it.”**

**“No…”**

Darren clenched his fists. **“So a Pokémon Trainer just USES Pokémon now?”** he growled. He started to tremble in anger.

**“I ask you, all of you, to free your Pokémon!”** Ghetsis urged. **“Let them be free and let this continuous violence stop! They have been through enough! We can still be friends with the Pokémon. We will not consider them OURS! They will be on their own!”**

**“Free them?”**

**“Must we?”**

Darren’s trembles increased. **“I get why he’d want us to let our Pokémon go…but what about those that have never lived in the wild? How will they survive? Or are we not supposed to care about that?”** He gritted his teeth.

Smugleaf smirked. “I think I’ve got a new respect for humans… That one only, though. He’s clever. I like him.”

“I don’t,” Charcoal whimpered.

“Why not?” the Snivy asked. “He’s telling the truth.”

“I don’t know why, but…” Charcoal lifted his head, eyes shining with tears. “I’m scared, Smugleaf. That man scares me. Something isn’t _right_ about him!”

“I feel it, too,” Yorkie squeaked. “Such an overpowering feeling…”

“I don’t get it. What’s with you guys?” Buck looked at the pair of trembling Pokémon. “I don’t feel anything! Is his taste in clothes _that_ bad?” The Patrat couldn’t help but laugh at his own joke.

**“Yes! No matter what you do, it’s futile!”** Ghetsis cried. **“I will fight for the Pokémon, even if they refuse themselves! With the Legendary Pokémon lurking, I will be able to free them all!”**

“Legendary Pokémon?” Seashell repeated. “What’s he talking about?”

“He’s a nut job, trust me on it,” Buck reassured with a grin. “ _Somebody_ must’ve snuck out of the happy house too soon.”

“Cut it out!” Smugleaf snapped. “He’s right! Why can’t you see that?”

“Because you’re as crazy as he is,” Buck replied.

Yorkie and Charcoal jumped in again as the Snivy lunged. Buck simply stood there and laughed, watching the Grass-type swipe uselessly at him. The laughter ended when Smugleaf smacked him across the face with his vines.

**“I do hope you choose the right thing,”** Ghetsis said. **“I will be going now. Do what’s right! Team Plasma! Let’s head out!”**

The strangely-dressed men and women quickly surrounded Ghetsis, escorting him away. The crowd quickly dispersed, muttering to one another in confusion.

**“What should we do? Is Team Plasma right?”**

**“Of course not! We don’t use Pokémon!”**

Darren stayed where he stood, trembling. Seashell, worried, tugged on his pant leg. The boy quickly snapped out of it, looking down at his Oshawott apologetically. When he opened his mouth to apologize, a voice interrupted him.

**“That was unexpected.”**

Darren looked up to see a boy with long light green hair standing nearby. He was wearing mainly black and white, including a baseball cap on his head. His shoes were bright green, though. He had bracelets around his wrists, a weird necklace around his neck, and a strange-looking gold cube attached to a loop on his pants. The boy was looking at the ground, keeping his face hidden from Darren’s gaze.

**“I wonder if they’re right…”** the boy continued.

**“Of course not!”** Darren replied hotly. **“How could you think that? Pokémon are our friends, not slaves! They have to be wrong!”**

 **“It doesn’t matter,”** the boy said. **“I’ll see what they are planning by watching them… My name is N.”**

 **“Sure… If that’s your real name,”** Darren pointed out. **“I’m Darren. What do you think about all of this? We don’t use Pokémon! Look at my Pokémon! Do they look used to you?”**

 **“No, they don’t,”** N answered after a moment. **“They may not know any better. That’s the only way they know. I’m not saying I agree with Team Plasma, but it makes you think. It’s all a matter of opinion of who is right. Well, Darren… Let’s battle and see for ourselves!”**

**“Sure! Let’s go, guys! Battle time!”** Darren cried.

“Again? But we just got healed!” Seashell complained.

**“Go, Purrloin,”** N said, tossing a Poké Ball.

In a flash of white light, a purple feline appeared. It had a large head in comparison to its body and there were tufts on its ears and cheeks. It had green eyes surrounded by long violet markings that stretched back toward its ears. Whitish-colored marks resembling eyebrows were above its eyes and it had a whitish muzzle that sported a small black nose. Its neck, shoulders, back, and hind paws were also whitish-colored. The lower parts of its forelegs were purple and the tip of its tail had a curved scythe-shaped extension.

“Oh, great! It just _had_ to be a cat, didn’t it?!” Buck complained. “I _hate_ cats!”

“Good for you,” the Purrloin said. “I hate rats.”

“Hey!” Buck barked. “I’m not a rat!”

**“My turn!”** Darren said eagerly. **“Yorkie, you’re up!”**

“Huh?! Why me?!” Yorkie yelped, terrified.

“You need the experience,” Smugleaf pointed out. “Just dodge when she—”

“I’m a guy, thank you!” the Purrloin called.

“You’re a guy?!” Buck cried. Then he laughed. “Oh, that’s rich! A girly-looking guy cat!”

“Shut up! I never asked to look like this!” the Purrloin shouted.

**“Scratch,”** N ordered coolly.

**“Dodge it and use Tackle, Yorkie!”** Darren ordered.

Yorkie whimpered before lunging at the feline. The Purrloin laughed, easily dodging the move and lashing out with his claws. Yorkie yelped, tumbling backward. He stayed on the ground, nursing his bleeding paw.

**“What will you do now, Darren?”** N asked. **“Retreat? Or continue the battle?”**

 **“Charcoal, you’re up!”** Darren cried, scooping up Yorkie.

“Right!” The Tepig bounded forward.

“First a puppy, now a piglet? What next?” the Purrloin chuckled.

“I won’t lose!” Charcoal declared.

**“Scratch again,”** N said.

**“Use Ember, Charcoal!”** Darren ordered.

The feline struck first, sharp claws swiping across Charcoal’s snout. The Fire-type cried out in fear and pain before shaking it off, unleashing a barrage of embers from his snout. The Purrloin yowled as his fur was singed, leaping away. He had no time to block the Tepig’s Tackle, which threw him to the ground at N’s feet. He struggled to stand.

**“End it with another Ember, Charcoal!”** Darren cried.

The Purrloin couldn’t flee fast enough as the embers shot at him, hitting his chest and face. He lifted his forepaws to shield his face, his paws being burned in its place. When the attack ended, the Dark-type wobbled before falling onto his side. He was out cold.

**“Yeah! We won, Charcoal!”** Darren cheered, picking up the Tepig and spinning around happily. **“We won! We won, Charcoal!”**

 **“Good job,”** N said. **“Thank you, Purrloin. Return…”**

The feline vanished in a beam of red light, returning to his Poké Ball. Darren set Charcoal down and smirked, holding out his hand to N. N shook it.

**“That was an awesome battle! Let’s make sure to do that again one day!”** Darren laughed.

**“I see…”** Pulling his hand away, N left without another word.

**“What was that? He just walked off!”** Darren complained. **“Oh well! Team Plasma is wrong. I’m sure the others know that, too. Someone will stop them. I hope…”**

“Are you okay, Yorkie?” Seashell asked.

“My paw hurts,” the Lillipup whimpered. “Did I do well?”

“For a first real battle, I guess you did. I’ve seen way worse,” Smugleaf replied with a shrug.

“And me? Did I do well too, Smugleaf?” Charcoal asked eagerly.

“You did great,” Smugleaf chuckled. “Keep it up and you’ll be strong enough to survive in the wild in no time.”

“Yay!” Charcoal cried.

**“Come on, guys!”** Darren called. **“Let’s get you healed up!”**

The five Pokémon followed after the boy. Smugleaf, Charcoal, Yorkie, and Buck chattered together. Seashell trailed behind them, Smugleaf’s words echoing in her mind. _Is returning to the wild really that important, Smugleaf?_


	6. Trainer Battles Galore

**“We’re off to Striaton City, guys!”** Darren cried.

It was early in the morning when Darren decided it was time to go. The five Pokémon followed after him, fully awake after a big breakfast provided by the Pokémon Center. They were now exiting the town, prepared for the trek to the next city.

“What’s in Stria…? You know, the next town—err, city?” Buck asked.

“A Pokémon Gym,” Smugleaf replied.

“How do you know?” Seashell and Charcoal both asked.

The Snivy ignored Seashell, turning his attention to Charcoal. “This guy isn’t the first human who has attempted to train me. My old trainer, the one who got me from the professor woman, wanted to challenge all of the Pokémon Gyms. I guess this guy’s no different.”

“Beating the Pokémon Gyms make us all stronger,” Seashell butted in. “It’s important!”

“Oh, really? It seems stupid to me.” Smugleaf folded his arms behind his head and yawned. “You don’t need a Pokémon Gym to get stronger. Just fight a bunch of Pokémon and you’ll be stronger in no time.”

“Really?!” Charcoal and Yorkie cried in unison.

“Yep! You don’t even need a human to do it,” Smugleaf smirked.

“Wow…” Yorkie whispered, eyes aglow with awe.

“Uh oh! More long grass!” Seashell yelped.

**“Get ready to battle, guys,”** Darren warned, entering the grass without hesitation.

They quickly crossed the grass patch. Sadly, it wasn’t fast enough. A Lillipup jumped out at them just as they reached the edge of the path, standing in their way. The puppy barked, baring its teeth threateningly at them.

**“Go, Buck! Show it what you’re made of!”** Darren encouraged.

“Sure!” Buck laughed, leaping out to face the Lillipup. “Okay, puppy, time to show you who’s king of the grass!”

The puppy charged with Tackle, only to get smacked away by Buck’s tail. The Patrat smirked, striking with his own Tackle. A second Tackle knocked the Lillipup out, giving Buck the win.

“Oh yeah! Who’s bad? _I_ am! Wahoo!” Buck cried, a huge grin on his face.

“Great job, Buck!” Charcoal congratulated.

“That was incredible!” Yorkie agreed, tail wagging a mile a minute. “You didn’t even get hit!”

“Lucky break,” Smugleaf said with a shrug.

“Don’t mind him. He’s jealous of my mad skills,” Buck countered, waving the Snivy off.

“What was that?” Smugleaf growled.

“You heard me, Smuggy,” the Patrat replied, turning to face him. “You’re J-E-A-L-O—”

**“I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!”**

Buck and Smugleaf’s argument ended, both of them looking at Darren. “What?” they asked in unison.

In front of Darren, blocking the path, was a young man. He held a Poké Ball in front of him, smirking. Darren looked just as lost as Buck and Smugleaf.

**“Where did you come from?”** Darren asked, suddenly looking at the surrounding trees with paranoia.

**“That doesn’t matter!”** the boy cried. **“Call out your Pokémon! Or are they too weak to win battles yet?”**

 **“What was that?”** Darren growled.

“He didn’t just say that, did he?” Smugleaf snarled. “He dares to call _me_ weak? He’s done for!”

Smugleaf dove forward, standing in front of Darren. The opposing boy smirked before throwing out a Patrat. It was obviously stronger than Buck was. The chipmunk snapped its teeth threateningly at the Grass-type. Smugleaf hissed back, causing the Normal-type to jump in fright.

**“Patrat, use Bite!”** the boy cried.

**“Smugleaf, use Vi—?!”**

Smugleaf was attacking long before Darren issued his orders, vines slapping against the chipmunk furiously. Three strikes forced it unconscious. Smugleaf smirked before snapping a vine dangerously close to the boy’s ankle. He jumped away with a cry.

**“Okay, you win! You’re not weak!”** he yelped.

**“Sorry!”** Darren apologized. **“Smugleaf hasn’t acted like that before, honest. I’m very sorry.”**

“What was that about, Smuggy?” Buck asked. “You went nuts.”

“He called me weak,” Smugleaf replied coolly. “I taught him otherwise.”

“That’s obvious,” the Patrat said dryly.

“You d-didn’t have to a-attack the b-boy,” Seashell scolded shakily.

“I wanted to,” Smugleaf argued, glaring at the Oshawott. “Humans need to learn that we Pokémon aren’t playthings. We aren’t tame. We’re wild. End of story.”

Darren headed further down the route, his Pokémon following him. Seashell lingered toward the back, as it had become a habit of hers as of late. _Is being a wild Pokémon all you care about, Smugleaf? Why is it so important?_

**“Ooh, another trainer! How about a battle?”** a girl asked, skipping up to them from the side of the path. **“One-on-one?”**

**“Sure,”** Darren nodded. **“My Pokémon need the practice.”**

 **“Purrloin, go!”** the girl cried, tossing her Poké Ball.

**“Yorkie, you’re up!”** Darren ordered.

“Not again,” the Lillipup groaned. “Why do I always have to fight the cats? Their claws are painful!”

“Hey, are you a girl or a guy, kitty?” Buck suddenly called.

“Do I _look_ like a guy to you, rat?” the feline hissed.

“Just checking, geez!” Buck grumbled.

**“Use Scratch!”** the girl commanded.

**“Dodge it and strike back with Tackle, Yorkie!”** Darren cried.

“I’m not going to be fast enough!” Yorkie complained.

The Purrloin lunged, sharp claws swiping at the puppy. Yorkie desperately dodged, only to yelp as the claws struck his forelegs. He jumped away, retreating behind Darren’s leg. The Purrloin flew to a stop, a smile crossing her face.

“What are you doing? Get out there, Yorkie!” Smugleaf snapped.

“I can’t! I’ll lose!” Yorkie cried, trembling in terror as his forepaws covered his eyes. “It’s too scary!”

“How is battling scary?!” Smugleaf demanded.

“It’s scary because you’re fighting against a Pokémon that, most of the time, you’ve never even seen before,” Seashell suddenly said.

“Huh?” Yorkie looked tearfully at the Water-type.

“You’re fighting an unknown opponent,” she continued. “Of course it’s going to be scary. It almost always is. You can’t run away from a fight, though. All you can do is fight your hardest and hope it’s enough for you to win.”

“Yeah,” Yorkie nodded. “That’s right. I can’t give up.”

**“I guess your Lillipup gave up,”** the girl giggled.

“Silly pupp—WAAAH!!” The Purrloin screamed as she was suddenly rammed in the chest, crashing to the ground at her trainer’s feet. She struggled to her paws. “What the…?!”

“I didn’t give up!” Yorkie cried. “I’ll win!”

“Think again, puppy,” the Dark-type purred.

**“Use Scratch again, Purrloin!”** the girl cried.

“You’re finished, puppy!” the feline screeched, lunging.

Yorkie dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the cat’s claws. Then he turned and slammed into her side, sending the Purrloin tumbling through the grass. She rolled to a stop, slowly getting to her feet.

**“Yorkie, finish this match with Tackle!”** Darren ordered.

Yorkie charged. The feline hissed, fur fluffing up in defense. It didn’t save her, however. Yorkie crashed her forehead with his own, knocking the cat back again. This time, she didn’t get back up.

“I won,” the Lillipup whispered. “I won. I won my first battle!”

“Great job, Yorkie!” Charcoal cried, hopping over to the puppy. “That was so cool!”

“You’re definitely making the ladies faint in your presence, Yorkie,” Buck laughed at his joke.

“Uh… Is that good?” Yorkie asked hesitantly.

“Depends,” the Patrat replied with a grin.

“Okay…?” the Lillipup nodded, deciding to just go along with what Buck was saying.

**“Awww! I thought I had won!”** the girl whined.

**“Surprises happen,”** Darren replied.

They continued onward, entering yet another thick patch of grass. Barely a few steps in, a Lillipup jumped them. Darren smirked.

**“Charcoal, your turn!”** he cried.

“Okay!” The Tepig hopped forward. “Hi! I’m going to beat you!”

Two Embers did the trick, earning the Fire-type the win. Charcoal was praised by Smugleaf and congratulated by Buck and Yorkie. Seashell gave a small cheer, trying to keep Smugleaf’s attention off of her. She didn’t want to be further harassed by him, after all.

Halfway through the grass patch, an all-too-familiar feline appeared. It was a Purrloin. Darren didn’t hesitate to battle it.

**“Go easy, Seashell! I want to catch it!”** Darren ordered.

_The moment he pulls out that Poké Ball, I’ll knock it out,_ Smugleaf vowed.

Seashell struck with Water Gun, succeeding in soaking the feline. Angry, the Purrloin lashed out with Scratch and scored a hit, leaving fresh scratches along Seashell’s left arm. The Oshawott quickly dodged a second Scratch, pulling the shell off of her stomach.

**“Use Air Slash, Seashell!”** Darren cried.

“Okay! Here I go!” Seashell announced.

She tossed her seashell high into the air, slashing it at the Dark-type the moment she caught it again. Three gray shuriken covered in blue energy erupted from the shell, shooting straight at the cat. The feline yowled in fright, leaping to the side. The first two shot past her, missing due to the Dark-type’s superior speed.

The Purrloin’s luck ended when the third shuriken tore along her side, throwing her to the ground. The feline hissed, teeth bared as blood ran from the wound on her side. Seashell instantly felt guilty.

Darren pulled out a Poké Ball. Smugleaf shot forward, vines erupted from his shoulders. Seashell was too far away to stop him.

_I’m sorry, but it’s better than what is about to happen to you,_ the Grass-type thought.

Just as he got close enough to strike, the Purrloin suddenly whipped around and lunged at him. Her paws were engulfed in black energy, sharp claws tearing across Smugleaf’s chest in an instant. Teeth sank into his vines, causing the Snivy to cry out in agony. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The feline approached, fur fluffed up.

_Shadow Claw?! She knows Shadow Claw!_ Smugleaf realized. _I’ve got to get away! She may be weaker than me but that move…_

Before the Purrloin could even raise her paw to deal the finishing blow, a Poké Ball hit the side of her head. She only had time to whip around and hiss before she was pulled into the sphere in a flash of white light. Smugleaf, too weak to move, could only watch in misery as yet another wild Pokémon was torn from their rightful place in the wild.

**“Awesome! I caught a Purrloin!”** Darren cheered.

“Smugleaf! Are you okay?!” Charcoal wailed, dashing toward the wounded Snivy.

“Hurts…” the Grass-type reluctantly said. “Can’t…move…”

“Help! Darren, Smugleaf needs help!” Seashell cried, tugging desperately on the boy’s pant leg.

**“Huh? What’s wrong, Seashell?”** Darren asked.

“Smugleaf’s hurt! Help!” Yorkie barked, eyes brimming with tears. “He’s going to die!”

“What?! He is?!” Charcoal yelped.

“He’s not going to die!” Buck argued. “He’s just hurt and can’t move! That doesn’t mean he’s going to die!”

“Thank Arceus!!” Yorkie and Charcoal cried, hugging one another as tears of relief ran down their faces.

“Dramatic much?” the Patrat chuckled.

**“Smugleaf!”** Darren cried, spotting the bleeding Grass-type. He dashed over, kneeling by the Snivy’s side. **“She got you good, didn’t she?”**

“Used…Shadow Claw…on me…” Smugleaf hissed.

“Shadow Claw? No way!” Buck said. “She’s nowhere _near_ strong enough for that move!”

“I saw it,” Seashell piped up. “Her paws were black for a moment. Maybe somebody taught her it through one of those silver disc things.”

“TMs…” Smugleaf corrected.

“Yeah,” the Oshawott nodded. “Are you going to be okay?” There was sincere concern on her face.

The Smugleaf blinked in shock. _She’s actually worried about me? Why?_ the Snivy wondered. _I put her down, yelled at her, and insulted her so much over the past day. Why would she worry about me?_

**“I’ve got some Potions with me. Better use one.”** Darren pulled out a bottle of purple liquid and sprayed it on the wounds. **“There… Try not to put too much strain on it, okay, Smugleaf?”**

“Whatever,” the Snivy grumbled, slowly sitting up.

“Does it still hurt?” Seashell asked.

“A little,” Smugleaf replied coldly. “Why do you care?”

“You’re my teammate, that’s why,” the Oshawott answered. “Should there be any other reason?”

“…Get away from me,” Smugleaf growled, standing up.

Darren left the grass patch behind. Smugleaf followed slowly, flanked on both sides by Charcoal and Yorkie. Buck trailed close behind, ready to catch the Grass-type should he stumble. Seashell waited until they had left the grass patch before following.

She hung her head sadly. _Why does he still hate me?_ she wondered.

A tear ran down her cheek, landing softly on the grass below. The Oshawott obediently followed Darren and her teammates, refusing to shed anymore tears. At least, not anymore tears for the moment.


	7. Battling Bianca

**“I think I’ll call you…Darkly. How does that sound?”**

Darren’s newly-caught Purrloin sat before him, her wounds healed by a Potion. She was eyeing Smugleaf and Seashell warily. Her green eyes soon rose to meet Darren’s gaze, realizing he was speaking to her.

“Darkly, eh? Why not?” the feline said. “It’s purr-fect!”

**“Darkly, it is!”** Darren nodded, taking the cat’s purring as an acceptance of her new name.

“W-welcome to the team, Darkly!” Seashell said, forcing her stuttering aside.

“Thank you for welcoming me with that injury, otter,” Darkly purred, licking a forepaw.

“Um… Sorry about that,” Seashell apologized quickly, almost squeaking in sudden fear of the Dark-type.

The Purrloin nearly laughed. “Don’t be so nervous, dear. I’m not going to _eat_ you,” she purred.

“Th-that’s g-good,” the Oshawott whispered.

**“I’m not even at the first Gym and I already have six Pokémon! Sweet!”** Darren cried. **“I’m definitely going to win the Trio Badge!”**

“He is trying to collect those metal things?” Darkly asked.

“You know what a badge is?” Seashell questioned, shocked.

“My old trainer had two of them,” the feline replied, stretching. “Then he suddenly let us all go.”

“Why?” the Oshawott asked.

“I don’t know,” the Purrloin said curtly. “Enough about him, though. Are you all he has right now?”

“Yep! Us five and you!” Seashell nodded. “We’re going to the first Pokémon Gym in the next town!”

“Which one of you is his starter?” Darkly asked.

“Me,” Seashell replied. “Why?”

“You’ll see why when we reach the Gym,” she purred.

**“You there! Battle me!”** a boy further up the road shouted.

“Not again,” Charcoal whined.

“Why are there so many fights suddenly? I’m tired!” Yorkie complained.

“That’s the life of a trainer Pokémon,” Smugleaf said, arms crossed over his chest. “It’s nothing but nonstop fighting.”

“Th-that’s n-not t-true!” Seashell argued.

“Yes, it is true,” the Snivy growled, glaring at the Water-type. “Am I right, Darkly?”

“Mostly, yes,” the feline nodded. “But there _are_ exceptions to that rule.”

“Huh?” Smugleaf turned to look at the Purrloin. “Exceptions?”

“Not all Pokémon Trainers battle one another,” Darkly explained, licking a dainty paw. “Some only seek companionship among Pokémon. Others use them in contests to win ribbons and trophies. And still others only keep them to learn about them.”

“Like Prof. Juniper did with us!” Seashell cried.

“Prof. Juniper?” Smugleaf repeated, confused.

“The professor woman,” Charcoal reminded. “That’s her name!”

“Oh…” Smugleaf snorted. “Whatever. Like I care what her name is.”

“You don’t like humans,” Darkly commented.

“That’s right,” the Snivy nodded. “Got a problem with that?”

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” the Dark-type replied with a small smile. “Just don’t try to push your views onto those around you.”

“What does that mean?!” Smugleaf demanded.

**“Smugleaf, you’re up!”** Darren suddenly said.

“Huh?” The Grass-type looked up to see a Lillipup growling at him. “Great…”

Two Vine Whips easily knocked out the puppy Pokémon. Smugleaf then snapped a vine at Darren for good measure before returning to his companions. Seashell stepped away, scared.

“Anyway, what did you mean by tha—”

“Darren is leaving,” Darkly got up and quickly dashed after the boy, leaving the speechless Snivy behind.

“Hey!” Smugleaf cried, realized he’d basically been blown off. “Get back here and answer me!”

“I don’t think she’s going to listen to you, Smuggy,” Buck commented.

“Shut up,” the Grass-type hissed, stalking after Darren and the Purrloin.

Heading further down the route, Darren was happy not to see anymore trainers. He could tell his Pokémon were tired and he was running low on Potions. **_I knew I should’ve bought more,_** he thought with a frown.

**“Darren! Wait!”**

 **“Oh no,”** Darren groaned.

Darren and his Pokémon turned around to see a blonde girl running toward them. She wore mostly orange and white clothes with yellow shoes. A green and white hat was on her head. A green bag hung from her shoulder. She was waving desperately at Darren as she approached.

When she reached them, she came to a stop and rested her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. **“I finally *gasp* found you, *gasp* Darren,”** she said.

“Who’s she?” Smugleaf asked. “His girlfriend?”

“No, that’s Bianca! She’s Darren’s friend!” Seashell corrected. Then she paused. “Kind of…”

“Kind of? What does that mean?” Buck questioned. “Is she or isn’t she his friend?”

“It’s a little of both, actually,” the Oshawott replied, embarrassed. “She’s really nice and stuff but…”

**“I thought you were further ahead,”** Darren commented. **“That’s what Prof. Juniper told me. Why are you still back here?”**

 **“I wanted to see how strong you got! You weren’t there when Cheren and I left, so I decided to test you here!”** Bianca declared.

**“You got lost, didn’t you?”** Darren guessed.

Bianca instantly lowered her head, blushing. **“Uh… Uh…”** She quickly nodded, cheeks reddening with embarrassment. **“Don’t tell Cheren, please!”**

 **“Don’t worry. I won’t,”** Darren reassured. **_He probably already knows,_** he mentally added.

**“Anyhow, let’s battle! I’ll surely win this time, Darren!”** Bianca cried, pulling a Poké Ball free of her bag.

**_Another battle? I hope this is the last one,_** Darren thought sadly. **“Sure, why not?”**

 **“Go, Lillipup!”** Bianca tossed her Poké Ball, releasing the puppy.

**“Charcoal, you’re up,”** Darren said dully. **_This is too easy of a fight…_**

**“Use Tackle, Lillipup!”** Bianca ordered.

**“Dodge and use Ember,”** Darren commanded.

The Lillipup lunged, only for Charcoal to jump to the side. A cloud of red-hot embers shot from his snout, singeing the fur along the puppy’s side. It yelped, leaping away. Then it charged again, succeeding in ramming the Tepig in the face. Charcoal cried out in pain, backing up as he rubbed his snout.

“Ow! That hurt!” Charcoal whined, tears springing up in his eyes.

**“Again, Lillipup!”** Bianca encouraged.

**“Dodge it!”** Darren shouted.

Charcoal quickly bounded away, whipping around to deliver a Tackle of his own. He slammed into the Normal-type’s shoulder, throwing it to the ground. One last Ember knocked it out cold.

**“Oh no! Lillipup!”** Bianca cried, returning it to its Poké Ball. **“You may have beaten my Lillipup…but my Tepig is way stronger! Go!”**

 **“Seashell, you’re on!”** Darren ordered.

Charcoal quickly limped back to Smugleaf, Yorkie, and Buck. Buck deemed the injury harmless, much to Charcoal and Yorkie’s relief. Smugleaf used a leaf to stem the tiny flow of blood from one of the Fire-type’s nostrils, patting him on the head for a job well done.

**“Before we continue, answer me this, Darren.”** Bianca said. **“Where did you get a Tepig and a Snivy?”**

 **“I found Smugleaf, my Snivy, in the forest. He apparently ran away from his old trainer.”** Darren explained. **“Prof. Juniper sent me out to find Charcoal, my Tepig. He wandered away from the lab and was attacked by a Braviary. Smugleaf saved him and ended up bringing him along with me, whether I wanted Charcoal or not.”**

 **“Ooh! Sounds like you had fun while you were gone!”** Bianca giggled. **“Enough of that, though! Let’s finish this battle! Tepig, use Ember!”**

 **“Seashell, block it with Water Gun!”** Darren cried.

Seashell did as ordered, unleashing a blast of water upon the incoming cloud of embers. Steam erupted from the collision, water eventually winning out. Bianca’s Tepig squealed as it was soaked. The Oshawott lunged, pulling the shell off of her stomach in order to end the battle.

**“Seashell, use Air Slash!”** Darren ordered.

**“Tepig, dodge it and use Body Slam!”** Bianca cried.

The two Pokémon rushed at one another, both intent on winning the match. Seashell tossed her shell into the air while Tepig jumped high into the air. Just as the Oshawott caught her shell and readied to attack, Tepig landed full force on her from above. Seashell cried out as she was flattened to the ground, her shell being tossed aside.

**“End it with Tackle, Tepig!”** Bianca cheered.

**“Get up and dodge it, Seashell!”** Darren half-cried half-pleaded. **_There’s no way I can lose to Bianca of all people!_**

The Oshawott struggled to stand, only to be rammed in the back by Tepig. She hit the ground and didn’t get back up. Her eyes were closed. She was unconscious.

“Seashell!” Charcoal cried.

“Is she okay?!” Yorkie yelped.

“That was a pretty hard hit!” Buck pointed out.

Smugleaf snorted. “She’ll be fine,” he said. “Trainer Pokémon always are.”

Darkly reached out a paw to touch Seashell’s shell, which had landed in front of her. The Purrloin’s eyes narrowed slightly. Standing up, she picked up the shell in her mouth and padded over to Darren, who had scooped up Seashell from the ground. She tugged on his pant leg and gave him the shell.

**“Send out your next Pokémon, Darren!”** Bianca encouraged. **“Or do you forfeit? It’s okay if you do, Darren. I won’t tell anyone!”**

 **“I’m not going to forfeit,”** Darren replied firmly. **“You’re up next, Bu—?!”**

Darkly stood in front of the boy, claws unsheathing as she faced the Tepig. The Fire-type snorted, smirking at her. The Purrloin bared her teeth at it, causing the Tepig to squeal in fear. She grinned.

**“Darkly? You want to fight?”** Darren asked.

“I do,” she purred, nodding.

Darren nodded back. **“Okay, Darkly, let’s do this!”**

**“Tepig, use Body Slam!”** Bianca cried.

**“Dodge it and strike back with Shadow Claw, Darkly!”** Darren ordered.

**“Shadow Claw?! No way!”** Bianca yelped.

Darkly dove away as the Fire-type jumped into the air, crashing to the ground. Briefly stunned, the Fire-type couldn’t dodge as the feline struck with paws engulfed in black energy. Sharp claws tore across its small black and orange body. She was quickly to jump away when the Tepig used Ember, escaping the searing-hot embers. She lunged, landing a swift Scratch across its snout. The piglet squealed, backing up in terror.

“Say good night,” Darkly purred, lifting a glowing paw.

**“Darkly, finish it with Shadow Claw!”** Darren yelled.

**“Tepig, dodge and use Ember! We can still win this!”** Bianca cried.

**“Not likely, Bianca! This fight’s over!”** Darren laughed.

A single powerful swipe ended the battle, throwing the Tepig right into Bianca and bowling her over. Darkly lowered her paw, licking it gently. She purred as Darren scratched her ears.

**“N-no way! How did your Purrloin know Shadow Claw?!”** Bianca demanded.

**“I don’t know,”** Darren shrugged. **“She had it when I caught her, that’s all. It’s pretty handy so far.”**

 **“You got lucky. I’ll win for sure next time, Darren!”** Bianca vowed.

**“We’ll see, Bianca,”** Darren replied with a smirk.

Returning her Tepig to its Poké Ball, Bianca ran back the way she came. Darren stared after her for a moment before continuing on. He carried the unconscious Seashell in his arms, the rest of his Pokémon following behind him.

Darkly walked alongside Smugleaf for a moment. “Human-raised or wild, Seashell is still a Pokémon. She feels pain and can die, just like you can,” she said, half-purring half-hissing. “Being raised by a human doesn’t make you immortal or invincible, Smugleaf.”

**_Why did she go back to the last town?_** Darren wondered. **_The next city is just up ahead. Didn’t she know that?_**

Shoving Bianca from his mind, Darren mustered a smile as he left the forest path behind and entered his first city. He couldn’t help but marvel at all of the big buildings. Shaking off his awe, he headed for the first Pokémon Center he spotted.

“This place is so big!” Yorkie cried.

“Wow…” Charcoal looked around in awe.

“So, this is what a city looks like. Pretty neat,” Buck chuckled.

“I’ve been here before. It’s nothing special,” Darkly purred.

Smugleaf barely suppressed a shudder. _A human city,_ he thought. _I’m in a human city. Why am I here? I should be back in the forest. Stupid Darren! Stupid Seashell! Stupid humans and their human-raised Pokémon!_

When they entered the Pokémon Center, Smugleaf found his eyes drawn up to the front desk. Darren handed Seashell over to the pink-haired woman, who handed the Oshawott over to something below the counter. The Snivy frowned and looked away, realizing he was staring.

_Why am I staring? Am I seriously worried about Seashell?_ Smugleaf wondered. He frowned, hands balling into fists. _No way! I’m not worried! Not about her! She’ll be fine! Trainer Pokémon always are!_

Then Darkly’s words came back to him.

_“Human-raised or wild, Seashell is still a Pokémon. She feels pain and can die, just like you can. Being raised by a human doesn’t make you immortal or invincible, Smugleaf.”_

The Snivy growled, shaking his head. His eyes were drawn up to the front desk again, where a newly-healed Seashell was being returned to Darren. The Water-type yawned before nestling into the human’s chest, tired. Smugleaf found himself growling, but he didn’t know why.

_Stupid,_ he thought. _Human-raised Pokémon and wild Pokémon are different. End of story. But…why am I suddenly not sure if that’s true? Could I really be worried…about that stupid Oshawott?_

Smugleaf honestly didn’t know. Shoving aside those questions, he followed Darren out of the Pokémon Center and into the big city beyond. The Snivy never even noticed he was watching the sleeping Seashell the entire way out.


	8. Buck's Shocking Victory

Darren’s eyes scanned the map he held in one hand, cradling the sleeping Seashell in the opposite arm. **“According to the map, the Pokémon Trainer’s School should be close by… Aha! There it is!”**

They came to a stop in front of a big building with a blue and white Poké Ball symbol above the door. Stepping inside, Darren and his Pokémon stepped lightly in order to avoid distracting the children in the room. Approaching the front of the room, Darren smirked upon seeing a boy standing by the blackboard.

**“Hey, Cheren!”** he cried, clapping a hand on the boy’s shoulder. **“Long time no see, right?”**

 **“Darren! Don’t do that!”** the boy nearly shouted, whipping around to face Darren.

He had short black hair and blue eyes hidden behind glasses. He wore a red and white shirt underneath a blue, white, and blue jacket. A belt, black pants, and blue loafers completed his outfit. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and a frown crossed his face as he glared at Darren.

**“Sorry!”** Darren laughed. **“I couldn’t resist!”**

 **“Obviously,”** the boy grumbled.

“What is this?” Charcoal asked. “Why are there so many little humans here?”

“It’s called a ‘school’, Charcoal,” Darkly purred. “Young humans come here to learn from older humans, much like how older members of our species teach the younger ones how to hunt and survive in the wild.”

“Oh! Like our parents?” Yorkie asked, tail wagging.

“Yes, Yorkie,” the Purrloin nodded, licking a paw. “Just like that,”

“It’s too stuffy in here,” Smugleaf muttered, frowning. _So many humans… Why must there be so many in one place? How can any sane Pokémon stand this?!_

**“You beat Bianca?”** Cheren repeated. **“Impressive, though not at all shocking since she has a Tepig and you have an Oshawott. Speaking of Tepig, did you find the one that ran away from the lab?”**

 **“Yeah,”** Darren nodded. **“He happened to join my team, actually.”**

 **“Really?”** Cheren looked past Darren, only to do a double-take. **“All three? You got all three starters?! How?”**

 **“Smugleaf, my Snivy, was in the forest that I was hunting for Charcoal, my Tepig, in. I caught Smugleaf and he saved Charcoal from this wild Braviary. When I got back to the lab, Charcoal apparently didn’t want Smugleaf to leave him and Prof. Juniper gave him to me.”** Darren explained.

**“Interesting,”** Cheren commented. **“So, you already have a full team. How about a battle to see how strong they are?”**

 **“A battle? Sure!”** Darren cried.

**“Snivy, you’re up!”** Cheren called, tossing out a Poké Ball.

**“Charcoal, this fight’s all yours!”** Darren declared.

“Right!” Charcoal dove forward. “I can do this! I can do this! I can—”

The words died on the Tepig’s tongue the moment an all-too-familiar lizard appeared before him. Charcoal gave a whimper as the Smugleaf look-alike cross his arms over his chest, a smirk crossing his face. Charcoal stepped back, suddenly afraid.

“Another Snivy!” Yorkie yelped.

“Well, that girl on the way here had another Tepig. Why wouldn’t there be another Snivy?” Buck pointed out.

“Does that mean there’s another Oshawott out there somewhere, too?” the Lillipup suddenly asked.

“Uh… Maybe?” Buck shrugged.

“Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott are the starter Pokémon of the Unova region,” Darkly explained. “A majority of the beginning trainers in Unova start out with one of those three. Don’t be surprised if this boy and that girl from earlier are not the only ones to have either of those three on their teams.”

“You can do it, Charcoal! Show that snake who’s boss!” Yorkie cheered.

“Yeah! You go, Coaly!” Buck cried.

“Coaly?” Smugleaf repeated. “Are you seriously going to call him that?”

“Yeah,” the Patrat nodded. “Why not, Smuggy? Darkly and Yorkie don’t need nicknames since their names are short as it is. You, Coaly, and Shelly have long names.”

“Shelly?” the Snivy repeated.

“Yeah,” Buck nodded. “Oh, the fight’s started! Go, Coaly!”

**“Snivy, use Vine Whip!”** Cheren ordered.

**“Charcoal, dodge and use Ember!”** Darren commanded.

The piglet squealed in terror as the speedy vines shot at him, just barely dodging them. A cloud of embers erupted from his snout, burning the vines and sending them recoiling. The Grass-type sneered before lunging, slamming the Tepig in the snout with his tail. While Charcoal stumbled, he unleashed his vines to slap and smack the Fire-type.

“Ow! Ouch! Stop!” Charcoal pleaded. “That hurts! Ow!”

“This is a Pokémon battle, kid,” the Snivy reminded. “There’s no such thing as mercy. There’s only victory or loss, win or lose. I intend to win.”

**“Charcoal, pull away and use Ember!”** Darren cried.

**“Your Tepig can’t go anywhere without getting hit, Darren. My Snivy has cut off all of its escape routes,”** Cheren informed, pushing his glasses up his nose. **“Now then, Snivy, finish it off with Energy Ball!”**

 **“Energy Ball?!”** Darren yelped.

“No way! How does it know that?!” Buck yelped.

“From a Technical Machine, no doubt,” Darkly hissed. “Just as that girl’s Tepig knew Body Slam, this boy’s Snivy knows Energy Ball. Could each of these starters have a special move?”

**“Dodge it, Charcoal!”** Darren cried.

The vines retracted, allowing Charcoal to climb to his feet. Sadly, it wasn’t fast enough. By the time he was on his feet, the Snivy had summoned a ball of glowing green energy in his mouth. The Grass-type unleashed it, watching smugly as it collided with the Tepig’s tiny body and exploded.

“WAAAAH!!” Charcoal rolled and tumbled along the ground before coming to a stop. He struggled to get up. “I…won’t…give…up…”

With one last push of strength, the Fire-type got back on his feet…and then fell face-first back to the ground. Darren yelped, dashing forward to scoop up the Tepig. Charcoal was out cold.

**“No way,”** Darren whispered. **“But…Fire-types _beat_ Grass-types.”**

 **“Simply having a type advantage doesn’t guarantee you victory, Darren. Strength, loyalty, and a good variety of moves do,”** Cheren corrected. **“My Snivy was simply stronger than your Tepig.”**

“Seashell has Air Slash,” Smugleaf finally said, staring at the ground instead of at Darkly. “She used it on me when I was captured.”

“Ouch,” Buck groaned. “That had to hurt!”

Smugleaf gave no reply to the comment. “I have Magical Leaf. I’ve known it since…I don’t know when.”

“You learned it from your father,” Darkly purred. “It’s an Egg Move. Seashell’s Air Slash and that girl’s Tepig’s Body Slam must be Egg Moves, too. What about Charcoal?”

“No idea,” Smugleaf admitted. “Maybe he doesn’t have anything.”

“I highly doubt he doesn’t,” the Dark-type said. “What I want to know is how you gained those moves and were still given away as starter Pokémon.”

**“Good job, Snivy,”** Cheren praised. **“Who’s up next, Darren? Or do you surrender?”**

 **“I’m not surrendering,”** Darren replied firmly. **“Charcoal, return,”**

The piglet returned to his Poké Ball in a beam of red light. Darren glanced down at the rest of his team, minus the still-sleeping Seashell. He found his gaze met by Smugleaf’s. The boy nodded.

**“Smugleaf, you’re on!”** Darren ordered.

“Huh? Another Snivy?” the enemy Snivy said in confusion. “Wait a moment… You’re the one that ran from his trainer, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am?” Smugleaf growled.

“Why are you with him then?” the Snivy asked.

“I’m making sure he doesn’t hurt Charcoal, the Tepig you just beat up,” Smugleaf replied.

“Apparently, you’re failing,” the Snivy commented.

“So you say,” Smugleaf countered. “You’re the one who’s about to fail now.”

**“Use Vine Whip, Snivy!”** Cheren commanded.

**“Use Magical Leaf, Smugleaf!”** Darren cried.

**“Magical Leaf?!”** Cheren yelped. Then he sighed. **“I guess all of our starters have special moves. Weird…”**

The enemy Snivy lashed out at Smugleaf with his vines, only to cry out in pain as glowing leaves slashed and hacked away at them without mercy. He withdrew his vines and charged with Tackle, only to have vines toss him away by the tail. Smugleaf smirked at the other Snivy’s misfortune before striking with another Magical Leaf.

**“That’s it, Smugleaf!”** Darren cheered. **“Now finish it with Tackle!”**

Smugleaf rammed the other Snivy in the chest with his head, tossing him to the ground at Cheren’s feet. The Snivy struggled to rise, only to fall again. He was unconscious.

**“Awesome! I beat him!”** Darren cried.

**“I’m not done yet, Darren,”** Cheren reminded, returning his Snivy to its Poké Ball. **“Go, Purrloin!** ”

**“Smugleaf, back off. Buck, you’re in!”** Darren ordered.

“Sweet!” the Patrat rubbed his paws together with a grin. “I finally get to kick some kitty tail!”

“A rat beating a cat? Ridiculous,” the Purrloin purred, tail flicking from side-to-side.

“Hey…” Buck gaped. “You’re a guy, too! It’s another girly kitty guy!”

“What did you call me, vermin?!” the feline hissed, jumping into a standing position with his fur fluffed.

“A girly kitty guy! How many of you are there?!” Buck demanded. “How can you stand looking like girls?!”

“I do not look like a girl, you flea-infested rodent!” the Purrloin shrieked. “I’ll turn you into my new scratching post for that!”

**“Purrloin, use Assist!”** Cheren ordered.

**“Buck, use Bite!”** Darren cried.

“You got it!” Buck nodded.

The Patrat lunged, dashing quickly toward the Dark-type. The Purrloin grinned. Buck blinked in confusion before leaping…only to find his arms caught by something. He stared at the ground in front of the Purrloin in shock.

“Where did those vines come from?!” Yorkie yelped.

**“Purrloin, use Scratch,”** Cheren ordered.

“Say ‘hi’ to my claws, rodent,” the feline purred.

“How did yo—ow! Ouch!” Buck yelped as the cat clawed him viciously. He struggled but couldn’t tear loose of the vines wrapped around his arms. “Ow! Knock it off! That hurts!”

“That’s the point. I told you that you’d be my new scratching post,” the Purrloin purred, continuing his assault. “See how fate favors me?”

“Ow! Why, you littl—ow!” Buck growled, continuing to struggle.

**“What?! But…how?”** Darren gaped, shocked.

“Assist,” Darkly said, eyes narrowing slightly. “It can copy one move that the user’s teammate knows. That Purrloin copied his Snivy teammate’s Vine Whip.”

“No way…” Yorkie whimpered.

“Get out of there, Buck!” Smugleaf yelled, frowning. “You’re really going to let a _girly guy_ beat you?”

“…No…” Buck began to tremble. “I…won’t…”

“Huh?” The Purrloin paused. “Shivering in terror? You should be.”

“…let…that…” Buck muttered, the trembles growing stronger.

“Know your place, vermin!” The Purrloin whipped one paw forward, claws extended.

“…HAPPEN!!” Buck roared.

The feline froze, eyes wide in shock from how loud the chipmunk had yelled. He did—more like could—do nothing as Buck succeeded in tearing the vines, dropping to the ground. Cheren’s frantic orders didn’t register to the Purrloin. He was in shock.

**“There we go, Buck! Use Bite!”** Darren cried.

**“Purrloin, dodge it! Run!”** Cheren yelled. _Why isn’t he moving?!_ **“Purrloin!”**

Buck rammed the feline, his sharp tooth piercing the Purrloin’s right shoulder. The cat yowled as he was thrown backward, rolling to a stop only a foot in front of Cheren. He struggled to rise but his hind legs refused to respond. He glared at Buck, trembling in anger.

Buck glared right back at him. “Who does fate favor _now_ , you girly guy?!” he shouted.

The Purrloin stared…and then collapsed, unconscious. Cheren dropped to his knees in shock. Buck grinned before stumbling back to his teammates, accepting the crushing hug Yorkie gave him. He was certain Charcoal would’ve done the same if he wasn’t unconscious at the moment.

“How was that for a win, Smuggy?” Buck chuckled, looking at the Snivy.

“Pretty good…against a _cat_ , at least,” Smugleaf replied. “And don’t call me that.”

“Whatever… _Smuggy_ ,” Buck grinned.

Yorkie instantly jumped in front of Smugleaf as the Grass-type lunged, vines swiping at the Patrat. Buck quickly retreated, a grin eating up half of his face. The Lillipup struggled to push Smugleaf back, not used to holding him off without Charcoal’s help. Darkly, surprisingly enough, assisted in holding the enraged Snivy back by sinking her teeth into his tail leaf.

**“That was a great fight, Cheren!”** Darren complimented, helping Cheren get back to his feet. **“You almost had me there.”**

**“That was definitely shocking,”** Cheren admitted, returning his Purrloin. **“I wasn’t expecting to lose to your Patrat. That proves that cats don’t always beat mice…or, in this case, chipmunks. Good job, Darren. You deserve this.”**

Cheren held out a round blue berry. Darren accepted it, confused. Cheren sighed, recognizing the look.

**“That’s an Oran Berry, Darren,”** he explained. **“You can put it on a Pokémon as a held item or give it to them to eat if they’re weakened in a fight. It restores a little health. They’re not easy to come by around here, though, so think before you use it.”**

 **“I will,”** Darren promised, dropping the Oran Berry into his bag. **“Thanks!”**

 **“No problem,”** Cheren shrugged, turning to look at the blackboard. **“If you’re going to the Pokémon Gym, I suggest you be careful. The Gym Leaders are tough.”**

 **“Gym _Leaders_?”** Darren repeated. **“You mean there’s more than one?”**

 **“You’ll see,”** Cheren replied.

Darren left the Trainer’s School, no doubt heading back toward the Pokémon Center. Cheren pushed up his glasses, chuckling. He picked up Purrloin’s Poké Ball.

**“If I didn’t know any better…”** he said softly. **“I’d say you fainted from _shock_ , not because Darren’s Patrat defeated you. How could that be?”**


	9. Mysterious Men and A New Friend

**“I wonder where this path goes,”** Darren muttered.

After healing his team at the Pokémon Center, Darren had come across a tree-lined path east of the city. Seashell had finally woken up enough to walk on her own. Charcoal, fully healed, trotted alongside Buck as the Patrat recalled his victory against Cheren’s Purrloin.

“And you want to know what I said next?” Buck questioned, grinning.

“What?” Charcoal asked, enraptured in the story.

“This is what I said!” Buck cried, striking a pose. “I said: ‘who does fate favor _now_ , you girly guy?!’!”

“Wow!” the Tepig cried.

“But that’s not the best part!” Buck quickly said. “You want to know what that cat did next?”

“What?” Charcoal asked, eyes wide in awe.

“He fainted!” Buck laughed. “From my words alone, he fainted!”

“Awesome!” Charcoal cried. “You’re so cool, Buck!”

“I know I am,” the Patrat chuckled.

“Ugh… He’s _so_ annoying,” Smugleaf grumbled.

“Let him have his fun,” Darkly purred. “It keeps him from bothering _you_ , after all.”

“Whatever,” the Snivy frowned. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you som—”

“Darren is leaving,” The Purrloin bounded after the boy, leaving a speechless Smugleaf behind.

“What the heck?!” Smugleaf shouted. “Why does she always run away?!”

“What were you going to ask her?” Yorkie asked.

“Why she didn’t try to escape when Darren caught her,” Smugleaf reluctantly replied, beginning to follow after Darren.

“Maybe she liked being a trainer Pokémon,” the Lillipup suggested, walking alongside the Grass-type.

“Who would _like_ being controlled by a human?!” Smugleaf demanded. “I know _I_ don’t!”

“Well… M-maybe she d-does,” Yorkie whimpered.

“She’s nuts,” the Snivy muttered, glaring at the ground.

**“Aha! A trainer!”** a voice cried.

Darren groaned. **“There are more trainers? Oh well, I least my pals get some experience.”**

A girl dashed up to him from behind a tree. **“Show him who’s boss, Purrloin!”** she cried, unleashing the feline.

**“Seashell, you’re up!”** Darren ordered.

“Not again,” the Oshawott whimpered.

**“Use Scratch!”** the girl cried.

**“Water Gun, Seashell!”** Darren countered.

The feline lunged, only to be forced back by a blast of water to the face. It yowled, leaping back. After shaking off the water, it glared at her.

“How _dare_ you get _my_ fur _wet_?” it—no, she—hissed.

“I’m sorry but I—” Seashell yelped.

She was cut off when the Purrloin suddenly struck, sharp claws raking across the Water-type’s left hand. Seashell cried out in pain, stumbling back. The cat struck again, diving toward the Oshawott at high speed.

**“Use Air Slash, Seashell!”** Darren ordered.

Pulling the shell off of her stomach, Seashell held it up to defend herself from the Dark-type’s claws. Once the cat leaped back, she tossed the shell high into the air. Once she caught it, she slashed it toward the Purrloin. Three gray shuriken covered in blue energy shot out, two of them nailing the cat. The Purrloin fell, defeated.

**“No! This can’t be happening!”** the girl cried, returning her Purrloin. Rubbing her eyes, she pulled out another Poké Ball. **“Avenge your friend, Purrloin!”**

“Another one?!” Seashell whined.

**“Seashell, get out of there!”** Darren suddenly said. **“Charcoal, you’re in!”**

“Cool! I won’t lose this time!” Charcoal vowed, dashing out onto the field.

“Oh, yuck! A _pig_!” the Purrloin gagged.

“So what if I’m a pig? You’re a cat!” Charcoal argued, not understanding that her words were an insult.

“A _stupid_ pig at that,” the cat said, frowning.

“I’m _not_ stupid!” Charcoal yelled.

**“Use Scratch!”** the girl cried.

**“Charcoal, hit it with Ember!”** Darren ordered.

The cat never even got to attack. She was instantly hit by a barrage of flaming embers. The feline cried out, both in pain and anger, as her fur was singed. A second barrage of embers knocked her out.

“Who’s stupid _now_?!” Charcoal cried.

“Definitely not _you_ , Coaly,” Buck replied, patting the piglet on the back. “Way to roast ‘em!”

“Thanks!” Charcoal smiled, happy with his victory.

“That’s why you never insult a Fire-type,” Darkly purred, licking a paw. “You’re bound to be burned.”

**“Great job, Charcoal! You too, Seashell!”** Darren congratulated.

**“No way! Not you too, Purrloin!”** the girl whimpered, returning her second Purrloin.

As they continued onward, a large building surrounded by a tall fence appeared. There was an opening in the fence but standing between them and it were two more people. One of them, a young boy, turned to face them.

**“Well, lookie here! Another trainer!”** he declared. **“I demand a battle from you!”**

 **“I don’t have much of a choice,”** Darren shrugged. **“Why not? At least I get experience. Smugleaf, you’re up!”**

The Snivy frowned. “Why should I?” he grumbled.

**“Let’s go, Patrat!”** the boy called, unleashing the chipmunk.

“If you’re too cowardly to fight a Patrat, then I’ll go,” Darkly purred.

“I’m not being cowardly,” Smugleaf growled, glaring at the cat. “I’m just not a human-lover, unlike _someone_!”

“How can you get stronger if you don’t fight?” Darkly asked. “If you don’t fight when Darren tells you to, you won’t get any stronger.”

Smugleaf huffed before reluctantly stepping onto the field. “I’m not doing this because I like him! I’m only doing it to stay out of the humans’ boxes!” he cried.

Darkly smirked. “Too easy,” she purred.

.o.o.o.o.

**“Awww!”** Darren whined. **“It looks like I can’t get in after all. That sucks…”**

“So, coming down here _was_ a waste after all,” Smugleaf snorted. “Humans are _so_ stupid.”

After beating up the boy’s two Patrat and his Lillipup, they went through the gap in the fence. Sadly, their way was blocked by a bunch of barrels. Darren made his disappointment quite clear.

**“Oh well… I guess the only place left to go is…”** Darren suddenly grinned. **“Off to the first Pokémon Gym!”**

“What’s so special about this Pokémon Gym place, anyway?” Buck suddenly asked.

“It’s where exceptionally strong trainers are,” Darkly explained. “Defeating a Gym Leader, who runs a Pokémon Gym, proves how strong you are. With every Gym Leader you defeat, the stronger you’ll be.”

“There are only eight Pokémon Gyms here, but I’ve heard that there are more elsewhere.” Seashell added.

“Just _eight_? How strong can they possibly _be_?” Buck frowned.

“You’ll see,” Darkly purred.

“I hope they’re not crazy-strong,” Yorkie whimpered.

“Don’t worry! I bet Smugleaf can beat them!” Charcoal declared.

“Really?!” Yorkie cried, amazed.

**“Let’s go, guys! We’re headed for the Pokémon Gym!”** Darren ordered.

Darren left the building behind, his team following him. The little girl who had been standing off to the side earlier was missing. Buck paused briefly, nose twitching.

“What’s wrong, Buck?” Yorkie asked, noticing the Patrat’s pause.

“Cover for me, okay?” Buck said, glancing back at the Lillipup.

“O…okay,” the puppy nodded. “Be careful.”

“I will,” Buck promised.

After checking to be sure Darren wasn’t watching, Buck took off into the surrounding trees. He could smell the girl’s scent but it was faded. A new scent suddenly appeared, erasing the girl’s scent entirely. It was dusty, like someone had been in an empty den full of dust for too long. Buck wanted to sneeze or cough, but he held it in. He could hear voices up ahead.

**“—u sure?”**

**“Yeah, I’m sure. These guys are worthless!”**

**“There was no point in taking them then. What a waste.”**

**“Who cares? The boss will find a use for them, no matter what kind of use it is.”**

Buck peered out from behind a bush. There were two men in blue knight-style uniforms standing near the fence surrounding the building Darren had tried to enter earlier. One of them held three Poké Balls in his gloved hands. The other paced, frowning.

_Those are the guys from the other town!_ Buck realized. _The ones with that weird-dressed guy that Smugleaf liked! What are they doing out here?_

**“So, any sign of _it_?”**

**“No, not yet. A new team will be arriving to take over the search tonight. It’ll be in another hour or two.”**

**“Finally! I’ll dump these three once we get back.”**

**“Good idea.”**

_These guys will be gone in an hour, eh?_ Buck thought, frowning.

Noting the location of the two men, Buck turned and dashed back through the forest. He had a plan in mind. The two men never knew that their conversation was eavesdropped on.

.o.o.o.o.

**“Here we are, guys! Striaton Gym!”** Darren cried. **“This will be my first Gym battle. Oh, I hope I win! But still…Cheren said there was more than one. How can that be? There’s only one Gym Leader at each Gym. Weird…”**

“You’ve been here before, right, Darkly?” Seashell asked. “What did Cheren mean by that?”

“There is indeed more than one Gym Leader,” Darkly purred. “That doesn’t mean Darren will have to battle them all.”

“Huh?” The Oshawott tilted her head in confusion.

“I think you lost us,” Charcoal said.

“You’ll understand once we get inside,” Darkly replied.

“If you say so,” Buck shrugged, returning unnoticed to the group.

“There you are, Buck! Where did you go?” Yorkie asked.

“He _went_ somewhere?” Smugleaf muttered. “I thought he finally learned how to be _quiet_.”

“In your dreams, Smuggy,” Buck chuckled. “There’s somewhere I gotta go after this Gym battle. I hope it doesn’t take too long.”

“What would be ‘too long’ in your opinion?” Darkly asked, tail flicking slightly.

“Oh… How about an hour?” Buck replied.

“What are you going to do, Buck? Is it another one of your great adventures? Can we go?” Charcoal asked, suddenly getting excited.

“I don’t think so, Coaly! This is something I gotta do alone,” Buck explained. “Maybe you can come with next time.”

“Awww!” The Tepig hung his head sadly.

“Sorry, bud,” Buck patted Charcoal’s head gently.

**“Let’s go, guys! Trio Badge, here I co—WHOA!!”**

Darren had just opened the door when an older boy walked out, resulting in a collision between the two. The pair crashed to the ground, yelping. A furry bundle of feathers landed in Darren’s lap.

**“Sorry! That was completely my fault!”** the older boy said, looking up fear.

**“I-It’s okay,”** Darren replied. **“I’m fine. You?”**

 **“Physically, yeah,”** the older boy nodded. **“Not so much emotionally… Oh, Ruffles! Sorry!”**

 **“Ruffles?”** Darren repeated, confused.

“Daddy! Help!” a small voice cried from Darren’s lap.

“Did that feather pile just talk?!” Yorkie yelped, diving behind Buck.

“I don’t think that’s a feather pile,” Smugleaf said, half-glaring at Charcoal.

The Tepig was hiding behind him just as Yorkie was hiding behind Buck. Seashell had dove behind Darkly, whose fur was fluffed up in surprise from hearing the voice. The Snivy groaned, shaking his head.

“You bunch of cowards,” he grumbled.

The older boy scooped up the mass of feathers from Darren’s lap. **“I’m so sorry, Ruffles! Are you okay?”** he asked, worried.

“Daddy! There you are!” the feathers cried.

**“What is that?!”** Darren demanded, just as spooked as his Pokémon were.

**“Oh, sorry. I forgot you were still here,”** the older boy said apologetically.

He turned to face Darren fully. He had dirty blonde, spiked hair and ocean blue eyes. He wore a pair of silver glasses, a black baseball cap with a red roman numeral 7 on the front, a white shirt with a five-pointed silver star on it, a pair of worn-out blue jeans, and white sneakers with black laces. He easily towered over Darren.

**“Nice to meet yo—”** the boy started to say, only to be interrupted by Darren.

**“You’re freaking tall!”** Darren cried, shocked at their height difference. **_This guy’s over six feet tall! I’m barely five feet tall! What the heck?!_**

The boy simply laughed. **“Yeah, sorry about that. I can’t really help my height, though. I might as well introduce myself. I’m Casey!”**

 **“I-I’m Darren,”** Darren said, stuttering from shock. **_Why is he so freaking tall?!_**

“Hey, feather heap! Who are you?” Smugleaf shouted.

“I’m not a feather heap! I’m Ruffles!” the feather pile cried.

When it finally turned to look down on them, Charcoal unleashed a loud cry of fear. “No! Not another one!”


	10. Casey's Gym Troubles

The other Pokémon jumped at Charcoal’s cry. Darren and Casey also jumped, surprised by the loud noise. Darren instantly scooped up the struggling Tepig.

**“Charcoal, what’s wrong with you?”** Darren yelped, trying to keep a good grip on the wiggling piglet.

“Not another one! Why is there one here?!” Charcoal wailed. “Smugleaf, help! It’s going to get me! Help!”

“ _What_ is going to get you?” Smugleaf demanded, looking around.

“I think he means the bird, Smuggy,” Buck commented, pointing to the feathery creature in Casey’s arms.

Perched in Casey’s arms, horribly confused, was a baby bird Pokémon with a head covered in thick fuzzy white down and a grayish-blue face. It had a yellow beak. A single red and white feather extended from its forehead. Its body and wings were the same color as its face, both seeming too small compared to the size of its head. It had large yellow feet tipped with black talons. Its tail was squared-off at the tip and was the same color as its downy head.

**“He looks scared,”** Casey noted, placing the bird on his shoulder. **“Here, let me hold him.”**

“No! Stay away, you evil… _thing_!” Charcoal yelled, struggling to get away from Casey.

**“Maybe he’s scared of you?”** Darren suggested.

**“No…”** Casey suddenly looked at the bird on his shoulder. **“Aha! I think I’ve got it!”**

**“Got what?”** Darren asked.

Casey slipped the bird off his shoulder and behind his back. A few moments later, Charcoal’s struggles ceased. He looked at Casey’s shoulder and then looked everywhere else, terrified.

“Where is it? Smugleaf, where did it go?!” the Tepig cried.

“He’s scared of a bird?” Buck asked, confused.

“It must be because of that big bird from the forest,” Smugleaf muttered, frowning.

“Big bird?” Darkly repeated.

“Charcoal was attacked by a Braviary when we first met him,” Seashell explained. “Smugleaf protected him from it, but Darren and I had to drive it away.”

“What’s a Braviary? One of those things?” Buck asked, pointing to the baby bird currently hidden behind Casey’s back.

“No,” The Oshawott shook her head. “It was bigger. The feather on its head kind of matches, though.”

“That must be its pre-evolved form,” Darkly guessed. “Charcoal must have been so terrified by that attack that he has come to fear any Pokémon that looks like a bird.”

“Poor Charcoal,” Yorkie whimpered.

**“I was right,”** Casey said. **“It’s Ruffles. He’s scared of Ruffles, not me.”**

 **“What’s a ‘Ruffles’?”** Darren asked.

**“Ruffles isn’t a thing. She’s a Pokémon.”** Casey explained, carefully pulling the bird from hiding.

“Hi!” the baby bird, Ruffles, chirped.

**“What is that? I’ve never seen a Pokémon like that before.”** Darren said, confused.

**“Ruffles is a Rufflet,”** Casey explained.

**“Cute,”** Darren commented, reaching out to stroke her head.

“Ooh! That feels good!” she chirped happily.

“Get away!” Charcoal cried, struggling anew upon seeing Ruffles.

Darren yelped, quickly putting Charcoal down. Casey instantly opened his mouth to advise against that, only to stare in shock as the Fire-type dove behind Smugleaf. The Snivy snorted, reaching behind him to pat Charcoal on the head. The piglet whimpered, refusing to budge from his hiding place.

**“What?”** Darren asked, seeing Casey’s expression.

**“Huh? Oh! Sorry!”** Casey replied, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. **“It’s just… Well, it’s two things actually.”**

 **“Yeah?”** Darren asked.

**“First,”** Casey said. **“You have two of the starters?”**

 **“All three, actually,”** Darren corrected, indicating Seashell.

**“Oh! Whoa! I didn’t see that one,”** Casey exclaimed. He took a deep breath to calm down. **“Okay, you have all three starters. How?”**

**“Seashell, my Oshawott, was my official starter.”** Darren explained. **“I caught Smugleaf, my Snivy, in the forest outside of Nuvema Town. Charcoal, my Tepig, was given to me by Prof. Juniper after I saved him from a Braviary. You see, he wandered away from the lab. After I brought him back to the lab, he freaked out when we were leaving. Prof. Juniper just gave him to me after that.”**

 **“Wow,”** Casey laughed. **“That sounds like one exciting adventure. It looks like your Snivy and Tepig like each other a lot.”**

 **“Smugleaf was the one who refused to leave Charcoal in the lab,”** Darren admitted.

**“He did?”** Casey looked at the Snivy.

“Quit staring at me, human,” Smugleaf growled.

“He can’t understand you, Smuggy. Humans can’t talk to us,” Buck reminded.

“That’s a good thing. Darren would be getting an earful out of me if he could understand me.” Smugleaf said firmly.

“Smugleaf, it’s staring at me! Make it stop!” Charcoal pleaded.

Smugleaf frowned, turning to glare at Ruffles. The Rufflet blinked curiously, tilting her head to the side. She seemed unaffected by his glare.

“You guys are _weird_ ,” she chirped.

“So are you,” Smugleaf countered. “Quit staring at Charcoal.”

“Why? He’s acting funny. It’s funny.” Ruffles replied.

“I said quit it,” Smugleaf growled.

“No,” Ruffles replied.

“I sai—”

Smugleaf was quickly interrupted when a scythe-shaped tail settled over his mouth, effectively blocking the rest of his words. He glared at the tail’s owner. Darkly sat in front of the Snivy, looking up at the Rufflet.

“Would you please stop staring at Charcoal?” she requested. “He doesn’t like it. Smugleaf doesn’t like it. None of us like it.”

“Is staring bad?” Ruffles asked, blinking curiously at the cat.

“Not such much bad as it is rude. Please stop,” Darkly said.

“…Okay,” Ruffles turned her attention to Casey. “Hey, daddy! Daddy! I learned something new! Daddy!”

“Th-thanks, Darkly,” Charcoal whimpered.

“No problem,” Darkly purred, licking a paw. “I saved Smugleaf the trouble of threatening her.”

“I still might,” the Snivy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Why does she call him Daddy?” Yorkie asked. “Can humans lay eggs?”

“No, humans can’t,” Darkly replied. “That would be interesting if they could, though.”

“No, that would be _disgusting_!” Smugleaf snapped.

“From your viewpoint, it would,” Darkly replied. “As for why she calls him that, perhaps she was bred in captivity.”

“What’s captivi—? That word!” Charcoal asked.

“It means born surrounded by humans,” Darkly purred. “It’s possible she has never been in the wild. She was born and raised by a human all her life.”

“Then she’s a human lover,” Smugleaf said. He snorted. “ _Great_! _Another_ one!”

“There’s a difference between one who loves the company of humans and one who knows no other life than that,” Darkly half-purred half-hissed. “Perhaps she has never been in the wild. You cannot blame her for thinking that living with humans is the only life she can lead.”

“Why are you so quick to defend human lovers?!” Smugleaf demanded. “Humans don’t care about us! They only see us as fighting machines!”

“Again, that is from your viewpoint,” Darkly corrected.

“Then I guess we’ll have to live as enemies,” Smugleaf decided.

“Not so much enemies as us having different opinions of humans,” Darkly corrected.

“This is getting confusing,” Buck suddenly said.

“Can we talk about something else?” Yorkie agreed.

**“You’re lucky that you have official starters,”** Casey said, lowering his head. **“I wanted to battle the Gym Leader here, but apparently I can’t unless I have one of the official Unova starter Pokémon.”**

 **“You mean you don’t have one? And you’re a trainer?”** Darren asked.

**“Yeah,”** Casey nodded, pulling out a Poké Ball. **“I started out with Riolu.”**

 **“Riolu?”** Darren repeated, confused.

Casey looked past Darren to look at his Pokémon. **“You have an Oshawott, a Snivy, a Tepig, a Lillipup, a Patrat, and a Purrloin. I’ve got quite a different line-up. You’ve already met Ruffles, my Rufflet. How about I introduce the rest of my friends?”**

Casey pulled three more Poké Balls from his belt and tossed them out, unleashing his remaining partners. Darren and his Pokémon all jumped back as they appeared in a flash of white light. Charcoal stepped out from behind Smugleaf, eyes wide.

“Who are _they_?” the Tepig asked.

“They are Pokémon, like us,” Darkly replied. “They’re just Pokémon that we’ve never encountered before.”

“Have you met these guys before, Darkly?” Yorkie asked, nervous.

“I’m afraid not,” the feline reluctantly admitted.

The first to appear was a small blue dog Pokémon. Its torso and legs were black. Its tail was blue and it had a yellow collar. Rounded bumps were on the backs of its forepaws. It had a black mask-like marking on its face and red eyes. It stood on its hind paws.

**“This is my starter, Riolu,”** Casey introduced.

“Hi!” Riolu cried, waving happily.

The next to appear was a slate-gray fox Pokémon. It had triangular ears with dark insides and a large whorled scruff of fur on its head with a red tip. Its eyes were blue-green and possessed no pupils. It had red eyelids and circular red eyebrow markings. There was a ruff of black fur around its neck and red paws. It had a bushy tail. Small fangs were developing in its mouth.

**“This is my pal, Zorua,”** Casey said.

The fox simply snickered before jumping into the air, eyes aglow as he quickly began to spin. In a flash of pink, he reappeared as…

**“What the heck?!”** Darren yelped.

**“Huh? Wha—Zorua! Not again!”** Casey complained, glaring at a double of himself.

The Casey double snickered. Its snicker was cut off with a yelp of surprise when Casey succeeded in grabbing a tail, identical to Zorua’s, attached to the double’s rear. In a flash of pink light, the double was gone. Zorua was in its place, a mischievous grin on his face.

**“Sorry,”** Casey apologized. **“He does that…a lot…”**

 **“It’s okay,”** Darren replied nervously. **_Where the heck did this guy get these Pokémon?!_**

“How did you _do_ that?!” Charcoal asked, amazed.

“It’s not very hard,” Zorua replied, smirking. “It’s really fun to do, actually!”

“I wish I could turn into other people,” Yorkie said.

“He didn’t really turn into his trainer, though,” Darkly cut in.

“He didn’t?” Seashell asked, confused.

“His tail remained,” the cat reminded them. “If he had transformed, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“Then what did he do?” Charcoal asked.

“It was an illusion,” Darkly purred. “My old trainer wanted a Zorua. He would frequently talk about them and their illusionary abilities.”

“Oh…” Seashell, Charcoal, and Yorkie nodded in understanding.

“Even if it was an illusion, it was funny!” Buck laughed. “A human with a tail! Hilarious!” He ended up falling flat on his back, laughing.

“You’re clever,” a voice commented from behind Darkly. “Not many Pokémon can recognize Zorua’s abilities as an illusion. You’re one clever cat.”

“I like to think of myself as clever, yes,” Darkly agreed. She looked over her shoulder. “Mind introducing yourself?”

A strange-looking humanoid Pokémon stepped forward. It had a round black and red head resembling a helmet, topped with a gold double-headed axe blade. Its yellow and black face was shrouded by its helmet. It had red shoulders tipped with gold, resembling shoulder pads. Its connecting torso and arms were black. Its hands were metallic and glove-like in appearance with blade-like appendages attached to them. On its torso were two blades, resembling a ribcage. Its thighs were circular and red, progressively getting thinner as they connect to the feet. The feet are long and split apart down the middle. Both feet are metallic and blade-like, the split down the middle resembling hooves. They looked very similar to steel war boots.

**“And here’s my main fighter, Blade the Bisharp!”** Casey finished.

**“Whoa…”** Darren stared at the older boy’s Pokémon.

“Hi, guys!” Ruffles cried.

“Hi, Ruffles!” Riolu greeted.

“Hey there,” Zorua snickered.

“Nice to see you, kiddo,” Blade said.

**“Anyhow, I know this seems sudden and all. Heck, you barely even know _me_! I barely even know _you_!”** Casey commented, half-laughing. **“Anyway, I can’t challenge this Gym without an official starter. Since you have all three, would it be okay if I borrowed one just for this match?”**

 **“Well… You don’t _look_ like a bad person.”** Darren admitted. **_Aside from being freakishly tall,_** he thought. **“I guess sure. I wouldn’t recommend Smu—”**

 **“Your Tepig wouldn’t be a good idea since he’s scared of Ruffles,”** Casey said, crouching to better look at Seashell, Charcoal, and Smugleaf. **“Your Oshawott seems pretty attached to you. I don’t know how well she’d take to following somebody else’s orders.”**

Smugleaf narrowed his eyes when he noticed Casey looking at him. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled.

**“How well does your Snivy fight?”** Casey asked.

**“I’m pretty sure he’s the strongest member of my team right now. He…doesn’t really listen to me, though.”** Darren reluctantly admitted. **“It’s like he hates me or something. It might not even be just me! Back on Route 2, he snapped his vines at this kid after a battle. He didn’t even want to enter Prof. Juniper’s lab!”**

**“He didn’t, did he?”** Casey muttered.

The Grass-type growled, glaring at Casey. “Don’t you _dare_!” he snarled.

Casey smiled. **“Let me try. I’ll battle with him in the Gym.”**

 **“Huh?!”** Darren yelped.

Smugleaf snorted. “Welcome to hell, human,” he said coldly.


	11. Shaking The Gym

**“Wait a sec! That wouldn’t be a good idea!”** Darren yelped. **“Smugleaf doesn’t like to listen to people! Seriously, Casey!”**

 **“Let me try,”** Casey persisted.

“I guess this means we’re fighting together!” Riolu cried, skipping over to Smugleaf. “Nice to meet yo—”

“Forget it,” Smugleaf growled.

“Huh?” Riolu blinked at the Snivy curiously. “Forget what?”

“I’m _not_ fighting for that human,” Smugleaf replied coldly. “I fight for _no_ human.”

“Then why are you with that one?” Blade asked, indicating Darren.

“I’m making sure he doesn’t hurt Charcoal or anyone else!” Smugleaf snapped, glaring at the Bisharp. “I’m not going to let him enslave anyone like he did me.”

“It appears you are failing,” Blade commented.

“Shut up!” Smugleaf snarled.

Vines erupted from his shoulder structures, lashing out at Blade. The Bisharp blocked the vines with one arm. Smugleaf growled, leaping back and swiping with his vines. Blade continued to block them, making no move to strike back at the Grass-type.

**“Hey! Smugleaf, stop tha—”** Darren started to shout, only to be stopped when Casey raised an arm. **“Hey, what are y—”**

**“Let them fight it out,”** Casey advised.

**“What? Why should I?!”** Darren demanded.

**“Trust me,”** Casey said calmly. **“It doesn’t take much to get Blade to fight. I don’t know your Snivy’s abilities very well. Witnessing them in battle firsthand is the best way to do that.”**

 **“But your Bisharp!”** Darren reminded.

**“He won’t hurt your Snivy,”** Casey reassured, eyes never leaving the fight. **“He’s too strong, anyway. Honestly, I’ve never seen Blade use his full power in battle before. I doubt he’ll have any reason to do so now.”**

Smugleaf increased the intensity of his blows. Blade continued to block. Then the Steel/Dark-type lunged, easily bypassing the vines. The Snivy stood no chance against the backhand Blade used and was sent flying backward. Smugleaf twisted around, landing on his feet. The vines retracted and were replaced with a group of glowing leaves.

“What the—?!” Blade jumped backward as the leaves rocketed forward, stabbing into the concrete where he once stood. _Magical Leaf? That was unexpected…_

**“He knows Magical Leaf?!”** Casey cried. **“He’s a starter Pokémon! How does he know that?!”**

**“I don’t really know, but he’s not the only one to know a weird move.”** Darren explained. **“Seashell knows Air Slash. My friend, Bianca, has a Tepig that knows Body Slam and my other friend, Cheren, has a Snivy that knows Energy Ball.”**

 **“What about _your_ Tepig?”** Casey asked. **“Does it know anything weird like that?”**

 **“I don’t know,”** Darren admitted. **“If he does, he hasn’t used it yet.”**

The battle continued in that same fashion. Smugleaf would strike with his vines, Blade would block, Blade would lash out with a swift backhand, Smugleaf would retaliate with Magical Leaf, and then the cycle would repeat itself. Blade was still going strong. Smugleaf, unfortunately, was beginning to tire.

**“I guess that’s all your Snivy has in him,”** Casey finally said. **“He seems to use offensive moves mainly. He’s pretty fast, too. I think he’s more content fighting on his own than being ordered around.”**

 **“I guess so,”** Darren reluctantly agreed.

**“Blade, that’s enough!”** Casey ordered.

The Bisharp nodded, using one final backhand to toss Smugleaf aside. He then backed down, silently returning to Casey’s side. Smugleaf struggled to his feet, gasping for breath. Trembles racked his small body.

Charcoal, Buck, Yorkie, and Seashell all dashed forward to check on the exhausted Snivy. Darkly glanced at Blade, silently staring at him. Blade stared back. The Purrloin merely nodded before following her teammates.

“Are you okay, Smugleaf?” Charcoal asked, worried.

“That guy barely even hit you, Smuggy!” Buck pointed out. “How the heck did you lose?! He didn’t even fight!”

“He must’ve been really strong,” Yorkie whimpered, shivers hitting the tiny Lillipup.

“That boy did say Blade was his main fighter,” Darkly reminded upon reaching them. “As a Bisharp, it is likely that he’s a fully evolved Pokémon…unlike us.”

“So, he’s _supposed_ to be that strong?” Seashell asked, frightened.

“More than likely, yes,” Darkly replied gravely.

Smugleaf just glared at the ground, trembling. _How did I lose? That guy barely hit me! He just blocked! I don’t care if he’s fully evolved! I wasn’t supposed to lose!_

**“We better heal your Snivy, just in case. Blade’s been known to deal a ton of damage with only one or two hits,”** Casey said.

**“Yeah,”** Darren agreed. He looked at the trembling Snivy. **_Poor Smugleaf… If he hated people before, he’ll probably hate us tenfold now._**

Smugleaf didn’t even bother fighting when Darren returned him to his Poké Ball. One quick trip to the Pokémon Center to heal up their Pokémon and the two boys were back in front of Striaton City Gym. Darren hesitantly handed Smugleaf’s Poké Ball over to Casey.

**“I’ll wait for you to finish battling the trainers. Then we can watch each other fight the Gym Leaders!”** Casey exclaimed.

**“Sure,”** Darren nodded. **_It’s going to be weird fighting without Smugleaf,_** he thought.

The pair entered the Gym, only to come face-to-face with a bright red curtain. An orange flame was imprinted at the center of it. In front of the curtain were three buttons, one identical to the curtain. The other two were a blue button with a light blue droplet on it and a green button with a light green leaf on it.

“What’s this supposed to be?” Smugleaf asked, frowning.

“A puzzle!” Riolu replied cheerfully. “You have to figure out the connection between the curtain and the buttons.”

“Darkly, have you done this puzzle before?” Seashell asked, looking at the Purrloin.

“Indeed, I have,” the feline purred. “It’s not difficult at all. It’s quite simple, actually.”

Darren looked at Casey. **“I’m guessing you’re not going to help me figure this out,”** he guessed.

**“Sorry, but that’s right,”** Casey admitted. **“It wouldn’t be fair. Just remember your Pokémon types and you’ll get through.”**

 **“My Pokémon types?”** Darren stared at the curtain and then at the buttons. **_The curtain has fire on it and the buttons have the starters’ types on it… Remember your Pokémon types…_**

After a moment of thinking, Darren stepped on the green button. Nothing happened.

“Wrong,” Darkly purred.

“So, it’s not the curtain’s strength,” Seashell muttered.

Darren stepped on the red button. Nothing happened.

“Wrong,” Darkly purred again.

“And it’s not the same type,” the Oshawott said. “That only leaves…”

Darren stepped on the blue button. The curtain slowly pulled away, revealing a waiter standing in front of blue curtain. The boy grinned victoriously at Casey, who merely smiled back.

“You pick the button that is super-effective against the type on the curtain!” Seashell cried. “That’s the puzzle, isn’t it?”

“Yep!” Ruffles chirped from Casey’s arms.

**“Congratulations on making it this far, young man,”** the waiter greeted. **“If you wish to continue, you must defeat me first.”**

 **“Bring it on!”** Darren cried.

**“Go, my Lillipup!”** the waiter ordered, unleashing his Pokémon.

**“This’ll be easy! Smugleaf, let’s g—”** Darren paused.

Casey frowned, eyes narrowing slightly. **_He wasn’t kidding when he called his Snivy his strongest,_** he thought. **_It looks like he relies on his Snivy a lot. It must be hard not being able to use him now._**

“I guess I’m up,” Smugleaf muttered, stepping forward.

“Did you already forget, Smugleaf?” Darkly spoke up.

“Forget what?” Smugleaf asked, annoyed.

“You’re not Darren’s Pokémon right now,” the Dark-type reminded. “You are Casey’s Pokémon. You cannot fight for Darren right now.”

“What?!” the Snivy yelled. “You’re joking!”

“Funny… I thought you’d be happy,” Darkly commented, eyes falling half-closed in scrutiny. “You frequently said you hated humans. Why are you so angry that you cannot fight now?”

“…Shut up,” Smugleaf looked away, arms crossed over his chest.

Darren shook his head. **_Okay, I can’t use Smugleaf here. That’s okay, I’ve got the others._** He put on a smirk. **“Buck, you’re up!”** he called.

“I guess _I’m_ up, Smuggy!” Buck grinned, bounding past Smugleaf.

The Snivy frowned. _Why am I so mad about this? A human is a human, no matter which one it is! They’re all the same in the end!_

**“Use Odor Sleuth! Don’t miss a single attack!”** the waiter ordered.

The Lillipup opened its mouth and unleashed a ball of white light that hit Buck square in the chest. The Patrat blinked, rubbing a paw over his chest. Aside from his chest fur standing on end, Buck couldn’t sense anything wrong.

“What was that supposed to do?” he wondered, confused.

**“Now use Tackle!”** the waiter cried.

**“Dodge and use Tackle, Buck!”** Darren yelled.

The Lillipup lunged, only for Buck to sidestep it and then ram it in the side. The puppy yelped, leaping away. It lunged for a second Tackle, only to be hit with Bite. A second Bite ended the match.

“Oh yeah! _Who_ is the man? _I_ am the man!” Buck cried, grinning.

“That was awesome, Buck!” Charcoal cheered.

“You beat that guy like it was nothing!” Yorkie gushed. “And you didn’t even get hit!”

“It’s my mad skills, guys,” the Patrat chuckled.

“Good job,” Smugleaf ground out between grit teeth.

“Awww! What’s wrong, Smuggy?” Buck taunted. “Jealous that it was _me_ out there instead of _you_?”

“That’s it!” Smugleaf lunged at the chipmunk, only to be intercepted by Yorkie and Charcoal. “Let me at him!”

“Hah!” Buck couldn’t help but laugh. “You _are_ jealous! Where’s all the hate talk about humans now, eh?”

Buck yelped when something smacked into the back of his head. Rubbing the sore spot, the Patrat turned to see Darkly looking at him. Her tail twitched warningly.

“Ow! What was that for?” Buck whined.

“Don’t taunt him,” Darkly advised.

“I was just having a bit of fun!” Buck complained.

“Do it elsewhere,” the Purrloin requested. She looked at Smugleaf. “That’s odd…”

“What is?” Buck asked, confused.

“Smugleaf,” Darkly replied. “He’s been angry and wound up ever since Blade fought him. I think he feels cornered, maybe even…weak. He wants to prove those feelings wrong.”

“Was that why he was so mad when I got to fight and he couldn’t?” the Patrat asked, suddenly worried.

“That’s only what I’m guessing it is. Smugleaf’s not as easy to read as I initially thought he was,” Darkly explained. “Hopefully a fight with a Gym Leader will give him the release he needs…”

“Yeah,” Buck nodded, suddenly on edge. _Who’d have thought that one fight could cause all of this to happen?_

After Darren bypassed the second curtain, he was confronted by a green curtain and a waitress. Casey and his team stood aside, as they did last time. Smugleaf, much to his frustration, was forced to join them.

**“You’ve been doing well so far, young man. Let’s see if you can keep that win streak of yours up!”** the waitress cried. **“Patrat, time to play!”**

 **“Charcoal, this fight’s yours!”** Darren ordered.

“Hooray! It’s my turn!” The Tepig happily hopped onto the field.

**“Patrat, use Bite!”** the waitress called.

**“Hit it with Ember, Charcoal!”** Darren commanded.

Charcoal yelped when the first Bite nailed his shoulder. A blast of searing-hot embers drove the chipmunk back enough for Charcoal to deal another hit with Ember. The Patrat, enraged, quickly charged with another Bite that hit the Tepig in the foreleg. Charcoal cried out, tears springing to his eyes.

“Charcoal, hang in there!” Seashell cried.

“You can do it, Coaly!” Buck cheered.

“Show that guy who’s boss, Charcoal!” Yorkie yelled.

Charcoal managed to stay on his feet, his head lowered. A brown aura suddenly enveloped his body. When the Tepig looked up, he glared at the Patrat.

“Leave…me…” he growled. “…ALONE!!”

Charcoal suddenly jumped into the air. He slammed his feet into the ground once he landed, the ground cracking beneath him. The ground shook violently, throwing everyone off their feet.

“What’s going on?!” Yorkie shrieked.

“Magnitude!” Darkly yowled. “That was the mysterious move that Charcoal knew!”

The ground abruptly stilled. The waitress’ Patrat collapsed, unconscious. Once everyone was back on their feet, she scampered back in fear.

**“That was Magnitude! That’s what your Tepig knew!”** Casey cried. **“That was… That was incredible!”**

**“Charcoal… Awesome timing…”** Darren said, barely able to stay standing due to how much his knees were shaking.

“Huh? What happened?” Charcoal looked around. “Whoa! This place is trashed!”

“You did that, Coaly!” Buck laughed. “You sure showed that guy who was boss!”

Smugleaf smirked. “Good job, Charcoal,” he said.

The Tepig smiled, jumping from foot to foot in joy. “I di~d it! I di~d it!” he sang. “I wo~n! I wo~n!”

**“Um… I still have my Purrloin…”** the waitress squeaked.

Buck grinned. “Ready to do that again, Coaly?” he asked.

The Striaton City Gym was shaken to its core for a second time that day. Upon bypassing the green curtain, Darren and Casey stood before a trio of waiters. Though a bit shaken, all three kept a confident air about them.

**“I am Cilan,”** said the green-haired waiter.

**“I’m Chili!”** the red-haired waiter cried.

**“And I am Cress,”** the blue-haired waiter introduced.

**“Welcome to our Gym!”** the trio said in unison.

Darren just stared. **“…I have to fight _three_ Gym Leaders?!”** he wailed.


	12. Gym Leader Smack Down

The trio could barely bite back a laugh at Darren’s outburst. Casey didn’t bother, laughing out loud despite the burning glare the younger boy was shooting at him. Even Darkly couldn’t resist a small chuckle.

**“What? Why’s everyone laughing?!”** Darren demanded.

**“My, my! That never gets old, does it?”** Cress said between laughs.

**“Yeah!”** Chili agreed.

Smugleaf looked at Darkly in annoyance. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

Darkly smiled. “There may be _three_ Gym Leaders, but Darren will only get to fight _one_ of them. The one he fights depends on the starter he chose when he began his journey.”

Everyone looked at Seashell. The Oshawott yelped, not used to so much attention. She scampered behind Darren’s legs, embarrassed.

Cress suddenly noticed Casey. **“Ah, it appears you’ve returned. Have you found yourself a starter with which to challenge us?”**

 **“Indeed, I have,”** Casey indicated Smugleaf.

**“Good, good,”** Cress clapped. **“We really do hate to turn down challenges, but it’s part of the League rules. No hard feelings?”**

 **“None at all!”** Casey replied, smiling. **“How about we just skip the formalities and jump right into the battle?”**

**“You’ll have to wait a moment, young man,”** Cilan said to Darren. **“You’ll be next, all right?”**

 **“Sure,”** Darren nodded. **_This’ll let me see how to battle these guys,_** he thought. **_Three on one? How can a Gym do that to a beginner?_**

**“Since you chose a Snivy, I shall be your opponent!”** Chili declared, stepping forward. **“As you wanted, this battle starts now! Go, Lillipup!”**

 **“Riolu, you’re up!”** Casey cried, unleashing the blue puppy onto the field.

**“Work Up!”** Chili called.

 **“Swords Dance!”** Casey ordered.

The Lillipup became engulfed in orange energy, instantly looking alert and ready to fight. Riolu jumped from foot to foot, white energy in the form of swords spinning in a circle around him. The two energy sources disappeared at once, strengthening both Pokémon.

The pair continued this for a few more turns before the first strike landed. Riolu tossed a massive ball of blue aura, tossing the Lillipup across the room. Despite how much power he had gained from Swords Dance, the Lillipup managed to get up. A second Aura Sphere ended the match.

**“Awww! Too bad, Lillipup! Oh well, my Pansear will defeat you easily!”** Chili bragged, returning his Lillipup and unleashing his final Pokémon.

It was a small red and yellow monkey. It had a big head with big ears attached to the sides of it, the insides of the ears being orange. It had a whorled scruff atop its head and a wiry arrowhead-tipped tail. Its limbs were skinny with no fingers, aside from thumbs. Its eyes were oval-shaped with big pupils and it had a tiny dot-like nose.

**“A Pansear, huh? That’s new.”** Casey muttered. **_Ruffles and Blade don’t stand a chance against a Fire-type, even_ if _Blade is stronger. Riolu isn’t hurt but…_ “I’m not chancing it, buddy. Zorua, you’re up!”**

Riolu returned to his Poké Ball without a fight. Zorua jumped out of his Poké Ball, eager to battle. The Pansear glared at him briefly before jumping backward in fright when Zorua smirked deviously.

**“Work Up!”** Chili cried.

**“Zorua, use Dig!”** Casey ordered.

Zorua instantly dove underground, leaving a large tunnel behind. Pansear, though initially afraid, did as it was ordered. As it performed a second Work Up, Zorua burst through the ground underneath it. The Fire-type cried out as the Dark-type unleashed a Shadow Ball directly into its airborne back, throwing it up into the Gym’s ceiling.

“Whoa!” Yorkie cried.

“You go, Zorry!” Buck cheered.

“That’s _gotta_ hurt!” Charcoal commented.

The Pansear fell back to the floor of the Gym, unconscious. Chili stared in shock before crashing to his knees. Casey grinned victoriously, scooping up Zorua.

**“That was great, buddy!”** Casey exclaimed.

Darren sighed in relief. **“At least I don’t have to fight all three of them,”** he said.

Casey held out his hand to Chili. **“That was an awesome battle. Thanks!”**

 **“No problem,”** Chili accepted his hand, getting to his feet. He held out a golden badge shaped like three diamonds stacked on top of each other, each diamond having a different colored center. **“You won fair and square, man. Here’s the Trio Badge as proof that you defeated me. Congrats!”**

 **“Thanks!”** Casey accepted the badge with a smile. Then he looked at Darren. **“And that’s how it’s done, Darren. I guess it’s your turn now, huh?”**

Smugleaf frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “What was the point of taking me from Darren? I didn’t even get to battle!” he demanded angrily.

“He only needed you so that he could challenge the Gym Leader,” Darkly replied. “Once he could, he was allowed to use his own team to win.”

“That sucks, Smuggy,” Buck said sympathetically. “But hey! Look on the bright side! Maybe Darren will let you battle.”

“Like I’d _want_ to battle for him…or _any other_ human for that matter!” the Snivy growled, looking away. “They’re all just stupid _kidnappers_ in the end!”

Smugleaf unleashed a vine, snapping it at Casey’s ankle. The boy jumped, backing up a few steps from the angry Grass-type. All three Gym Leaders stared in confusion. Darren yelped, realizing what was going on.

**“Casey, I’m so sorry! I _knew_ this would happen!”** he cried fearfully. **“He must’ve gotten _really_ angry when your Bisharp beat him!”**

 **“I can’t blame him, honestly,”** Casey admitted, eyeing the Snivy with caution. **“You weren’t kidding. He really _doesn’t_ like humans.”**

 **“Yeah,”** Darren nodded.

Casey handed back Smugleaf’s Poké Ball, returning Zorua to his own Poké Ball. Smugleaf frowned, glaring at Chili. His eyes then strayed to Cilan and Cress.

_Darren will be fighting one of them,_ he thought. _They’ve got to be as strong, if not stronger than, that Bisharp. If I could beat them…_

His thoughts trailed off when Cilan stepped forward. **“I am Cilan. You started with Oshawott, right?”** he asked.

**“Yeah,”** Darren nodded.

**“Then I shall be your opponent. Shall we?”** Cilan asked, pulling a Poké Ball from his belt.

**“Let’s do this!”** Darren agreed, eager to start. _That Chili guy had a Lillipup and a Pansear. I wonder what this guy will have…_

**“Lillipup, you’re up!”** Cilan cried.

**“You’re in, Dar—”**

The Lillipup cried out as Smugleaf’s vines crashed into it. Darren just stared in shock as the Snivy mercilessly attacked, giving the puppy no time to recover or counterattack. Darkly made no move to interfere with his fight.

_It looks like I guessed correctly,_ the Purrloin thought. _His defeat against Blade has made Smugleaf want to be stronger. Sure, he’s being overly reckless, but he’s actually willing to fight for Darren. He doesn’t want to lose again… Not like that…_

The Lillipup soon collapsed, defeated. Smugleaf smirked, feeling victorious. Darren and Cilan both stared at him in shock.

**“I am so sorry about that!”** Darren apologized. **“He doesn’t want to listen and he’s mad and—”**

**“It’s all right,”** Cilan replied. **“Your Snivy obviously wants to fight. It has seen our strength and it wants to challenge us, with or without your permission. It has a certain look, a fire in its eyes. It wants to fight…to win…to prove itself, if I’m correct.”**

 **_To…prove himself?_** Darren thought. **_Does Smugleaf want to prove that he isn’t weak? Did losing to Blade do this? It’s not that he’s mad at us… He’s mad at himself, maybe? I guess he doesn’t want to be weak…_**

**“Hey, Smugleaf!”** Darren called.

“Huh?” Smugleaf glared at Darren over his shoulder. _Now what? I’m fighting for him. What more does he want?_

**“Keep going, Smugleaf! Show him who’s boss!”** Darren cheered.

“Huh?!” Smugleaf stared at him in shock. _What? What is he…?_

**“Everyone here _knows_ that you’re not weak! Show them that! Show them how strong you _really_ are!”** Darren cried.

Smugleaf turned slightly, eyes wide in surprise. _Why is he cheering? After all I did… Why?_

**“I know you lost to Blade. I know you’re mad about that. You can’t always win but…you can sure try your hardest! So try your hardest now…to win this Gym battle!”** Darren encouraged.

_Why? He’s a stupid human! So why?_ Smugleaf wondered. _Why bother cheering for me when you know I’ll go back to hating you when this is over? Why? This changes_ nothing _! You’re still a_ human _! I’ll still_ hate _you!_

**“I know I can’t understand you,”** Darren admitted. **“But I know you don’t like humans. And you don’t like me catching Pokémon. I don’t know why. One thing I _do know_ is that you like to battle. Maybe you and I don’t get along…but let’s win this! Together!”**

_Together?_ Smugleaf turned to face Cilan again, frowning. _I may hate him…but we both want to battle. We both want to win. Fine, human, I’ll do this for you…only because I don’t want to lose. After this is over, I’ll go back to hating you until the next battle. I’ll only obey then, got it? Beyond that, I’ll still hate you. I’ll still search for a way to escape from you. Until then, I’ll fight…_

“You go, Smuggy! Show that guy who’s the boss here!” Buck cried.

“You can do it, Smugleaf!” Yorkie cheered.

“Beat that guy, Smugleaf!” Charcoal shouted.

Darkly felt a smile twitch onto her face. _Do you understand now, Smugleaf? You can hate humans all you like…but we have more in common than you realize. Humans and Pokémon are united by our need to battle._

**“Ah, I sense the harmony between you and your Snivy!”** Cilan cried, smiling. **“Even if your Snivy dislikes you, it still wishes to battle for you! It refuses to back down or lose!”**

Casey smirked. **_You go get them, Darren…Smugleaf…_**

.o.o.o.o.

Behind the curtain leading into the Gym Leaders’ room, a 10-year-old girl with long, messy black hair and dark brown eyes watched the battle. She had been hiding there since she had seen the two boys enter the Gym. She had seen the first boy earlier when he hadn’t been allowed to battle due to having no starter. His battle had impressed her, especially since he had Pokémon she had never seen before.

But now the second boy, obviously a beginner, was starting to impress her. His Snivy seemed to pay his orders no mind but now, after that speech, both seemed pumped for battle. The rest of his team seemed like the normal beginner line-up…if you didn’t include the Oshawott and the Tepig.

**_These guys are pretty interesting,_** she decided. **_I’ll definitely have to battle them._**

.o.o.o.o.

Cilan pulled out his final Poké Ball. **“Go, Pansage! Let’s see if their harmony can withstand our attacks!”** he cried.

It was a monkey that looked very similar to Chili’s Pansear, only it was green and yellow with a broccoli-like sprout on its head. It had the same eyes, nose, and skinny limbs as Pansear. Its tail was tipped with two leaves.

**“Tackle!”** Darren ordered.

**“Vine Whip!”** Cilan called.

Smugleaf lunged, crashing into the Pansage’s stomach. Though winded, the monkey still struck Smugleaf with a powerful vine. Smugleaf switched to using Growth while the Pansage switched to Work Up, resulting in boosted power for both.

**“Use Tackle, Smugleaf!”** Darren cried.

 **“Scratch!”** Cilan commanded.

Smugleaf crashed into the monkey again, causing plenty of damage. Unfortunately, the Pansage caused more damage with its boosted Scratch. Smugleaf gasped, clutching his aching chest. He could see spots on the edges of his vision.

_No way,_ the Snivy thought, gritting his teeth in anger. _I can’t lose! Not again!_

**“Use Scratch one more time!”** Cilan cried.

“Smugleaf!” Charcoal shouted.

“Look out!” Yorkie wailed.

“Get out of the way, Smuggy!” Buck yelled.

_What is he doing? He’s going to lose if he doesn’t move!_ Darkly realized. _If he loses again, it could be catastrophic!_

Smugleaf’s body hurt too much to move even an inch. The Pansage lunged, ready to end the battle. As much as the Snivy wanted to lash out, his body refused to obey him. He was a sitting duck.

**_I won’t make it!_** Darren realized, struggling to find a Potion in his bag.

**_Come on,_** Casey prayed. **_You can do it, Smugleaf! Move!_**

Smugleaf sighed, closing his eyes. _This is just like…back then…_

Memories hit the Snivy. Memories of him battling various Patrat and Lillipup. Memories of Smugleaf with _him_. Memories of battling this very Gym…and losing…

“SMUGLEAF!!”

Smugleaf’s eyes snapped open just as he registered a small form throwing itself between him and the Pansage. A small form resembling an otter, seashell in hand in a desperate attempt to defend them both from the attack. A small form that had endured so much verbal abuse from him for the past two days…

He found himself crying out her name just seconds before the attack connected…

“SEASHELL!!”


	13. Happy Being Left Behind

_Why? Why are you doing this?_

Seashell watched as Smugleaf fell, torn down by the critical hit Scratch that the Pansage used. Boosted by its previous few Work Ups, it was super-powerful. Smugleaf hadn’t stood a chance.

_He hurt you. He called you weak. He insulted you. He made you cry._

The Pansage was moving in for the kill. One more Scratch and Smugleaf would lose. He had tried _so hard_ to win…and he _failed_.

_He insulted your trainer. He turned everyone against you. He made you doubt yourself in every way imaginable. So why? Why save him?_

Smugleaf couldn’t move. He was in too much pain. He couldn’t even lift an arm to defend himself with. Everyone was calling for him, trying to help him with their words. Darren was trying to find a Potion, but it wasn’t fast enough. He’d never make it…

_Things were better before he joined. He accused you of kidnapping him. He tore apart everything you knew about humans. Everything fell apart because of him! So why?!_

Seashell found her feet moving, taking her toward Smugleaf. His name escaped her lips without her permission. Her hands pulled her seashell off her stomach, wielding it like a shield as she placed herself between him and the Pansage. Time seemed to slow down…

_Why would you do this? Why protect him? He ruined everything…_

She heard her name come from behind her. The voice was familiar but she couldn’t place it. She lifted her seashell, the Pansage’s hand descending upon her to deal the finishing blow. She was still recovering from losing to Bianca’s Tepig, her injuries throbbing. She didn’t back down.

_I’m protecting him because he’s part of this team,_ she replied to the voice in her head. _I’m protecting him because without him, Charcoal would be dead. Buck and Yorkie would still be on Route 1. Darkly would still be alone, without her old trainer, on Route 2. Casey would be unable to battle this Gym and get his first badge. Darren would’ve never made the friends he did._

The hand slammed into her shell, forcing her backward. Her feet dug into the floor, trying to stand her ground. She heard a loud CRACK, though from where, she had no idea. She prayed that there were no broken bones.

_He still hurt you,_ the voice reminded. _You have no friendship with the rest of Darren’s team because of him. Darren barely pays you any mind now. You’re always at the back of the group, hiding your tears._

Pain exploded from her chest and right side. She felt the sensation of leaving the ground, then of falling backward. Her seashell was gone, thrown from her hands to land elsewhere on the field.

_I’m fine with that,_ Seashell replied. _Everyone else is happy. Sure, it hurts when Smugleaf yells at me…or insults me…but I’m okay with that. He makes Charcoal, Yorkie, and Buck smile. He gives Darkly something new to discover. He keeps Darren on his toes. He makes sure nobody gets left behind…_

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, stopping her from hitting the ground. A voice—Smugleaf’s, if her guess is right—cries her name. Other voices join, concern and fear consuming them. Darren and Casey are among them.

_And what about you?_ The voice asks. _He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care if you’re left behind. If anything, he makes sure you’re left behind._

Seashell opens her eyes, which were screwed closed from the pain, and sees Smugleaf above her. He has her seashell in his hand. He’s saying something, but she can’t hear it. She doesn’t feel the pain anymore. Now she just feels numb.

_Then I’ll be left behind…until I need to come forward,_ Seashell said softly. _I’ll stay behind…until I feel needed. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Smugleaf can protect everyone else._

_Then when? When will you feel needed?_ The voice asked.

Seashell felt herself smile. _Smugleaf can protect everyone else. I’ll protect Smugleaf._

.o.o.o.o.

“…ell? Seashell, can you hear me? Hey, wake up! Seashell!”

Seashell blinked slowly, Smugleaf’s voice finally breaking through her fuzzy hearing. She looks up to see the Snivy leaning over her, seashell in hand. There’s a large crack in it, probably from the Pansage’s Scratch hitting it.

“Hey! Are you listening? Seashell!”

The Oshawott blinked, looking back at Smugleaf. She slowly sat up, feeling her chest and right side throbbing. Looking down, she saw thin scratch marks crossing those areas of her body. The Pansage’s Scratch must’ve broken through her seashell and hit her.

“Hello? Are you in there, Seashell?”

“Yeah,” Seashell said, her voice light and barely audible. “Did we lose?”

“No,” Smugleaf snorted. “The match was paused because you jumped in. You scared everyone.”

“I did?” Seashell blinked again, not entirely understanding what he said.

A light smack registered to her just as Smugleaf’s leafy tail landed on her head briefly. It was pulled away just as quickly as it had appeared. Seashell looked up at the Snivy, confused.

“Are you suicidal or something?” he asked, frowning. “I knew you were stupid, but suicidal? Give me a break!”

“…Huh?” Seashell tilted her head in confusion.

“That Pansage is a _Grass-type_ , like _me_ ,” Smugleaf said slowly, as if talking to a small child. “He would easily beat you because _you_ are a _Water-type_. Understand?”

Seashell blinked slowly before nodding.

Smugleaf smirked. “Good. Now go back to Darren before you get beaten up.”

“No,” Seashell said.

“Goo—” Smugleaf paused, realizing he hadn’t gotten the response he had wanted. He glared at the Oshawott. “What did you say?”

“No,” Seashell slowly stood up.

“I sai—”

“You’ll lose if I do,” Seashell interrupted.

“Huh?” Smugleaf blinked in confusion.

“Darren didn’t heal you with a Potion yet,” Seashell said, her voice monotone. She still felt numb. “If you keep fighting, you’ll lose. I don’t want you to get hurt…not like before…”

“What are you talking about? What _before_?!” Smugleaf demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

“Darkly…” Seashell squeaked, lowering her head. “When Darkly hurt you…”

Smugleaf froze, shocked. It took him a moment to realize what she said, let alone remember when it happened. The memory hit him instantly.

.o.o.o.o.

_The Purrloin’s luck ended when the third shuriken tore along her side, throwing her to the ground. The feline hissed, teeth bared as blood ran from the wound on her side. Seashell instantly felt guilty._

_Darren pulled out a Poké Ball. Smugleaf shot forward, vines erupted from his shoulders. Seashell was too far away to stop him._

I’m sorry, but it’s better than what is about to happen to you, _the Grass-type thought._

_Just as he got close enough to strike, the Purrloin suddenly whipped around and lunged at him. Her paws were engulfed in black energy, sharp claws tearing across Smugleaf’s chest in an instant. Teeth sank into his vines, causing the Snivy to cry out in agony. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The feline approached, fur fluffed up._

Shadow Claw?! She knows Shadow Claw! _Smugleaf realized._ I’ve got to get away! She may be weaker than me but that move…

_Before the Purrloin could even raise her paw to deal the finishing blow, a Poké Ball hit the side of her head. She only had time to whip around and hiss before she was pulled into the sphere in a flash of white light. Smugleaf, too weak to move, could only watch in misery as yet another wild Pokémon was torn from their rightful place in the wild._

.o.o.o.o.

The Snivy felt himself shaking. He’d forgotten how terrifying it was when he’d been hit with Shadow Claw. Darkly had seemed so deadly back then. She hardly appeared to be the Purrloin that they knew now…

That’s when he noticed something. Seashell was crying. Fat tears ran down her cheeks, falling to the floor.

“H-Hey! Why are you crying?!” Smugleaf demanded, shaking her again. “Quit crying, you weakling!”

“I don’t want that to happen again!” Seashell whimpered. “I don’t want you to get hurt like that! Not again!”

“Huh?” The Snivy froze again. _She doesn’t want me…to get hurt? Why should she_ care _? I’ve hurt her everyday since I was captured by that human, Darren! She should be_ happy _to see me get hurt! Wait! This is just like…back then…_

His memories returned to when they first met Darkly, after he’d been hurt and she’d been captured.

.o.o.o.o.

_“Are you going to be okay?” Seashell asked. There was sincere concern on her face._

 _The Smugleaf blinked in shock._ She’s actually worried about me? Why? _the Snivy wondered._ I put her down, yelled at her, and insulted her so much over the past day. Why would she worry about me?

**_“I’ve got some Potions with me. Better use one.”_** _Darren pulled out a bottle of purple liquid and sprayed it on the wounds. **“There… Try not to put too much strain on it, okay, Smugleaf?”**_

_“Whatever,” the Snivy grumbled, slowly sitting up._

_“Does it still hurt?” Seashell asked._

_“A little,” Smugleaf replied coldly. “Why do you care?”_

_“You’re my teammate, that’s why,” the Oshawott answered. “Should there be any other reason?”_

.o.o.o.o.

“W…Why?” Smugleaf shakily asked. “Why do you care?”

“You made all of this happen, Smugleaf,” Seashell sniffled, wiping her eyes with a paw. “You saved Charcoal. You befriended Yorkie and Buck. You gave Darkly a new home. You made sure Casey got his badge. And…you gave Darren lots of new friends, whether you wanted to or not.”

“I _hurt_ you,” the Snivy hissed. “I insulted you, I hurt your trainer, and _I made you cry_! Why do you _care_?!”

“Because you make everyone _happy_!” Seashell cried.

“Huh?” Smugleaf stared at her in shock.

“You made everybody happy, Smugleaf,” Seashell said, fresh tears falling down her cheeks. “Charcoal and Yorkie look up to you. Buck sees you as a friend. Even Darkly likes you despite how she acts. Darren keeps you around even thought you try to hurt him. In your own way, you make everyone happy to be near you, Smugleaf!”

“…And you? What do I do for you?” Smugleaf challenged.

“…You make everyone happy. That’s what you do for me.” Seashell replied softly. “I don’t want everyone to be sad. That’s why I won’t let you get hurt like that again. That’s why I won’t let you fight this match until you’re healed!”

Smugleaf could only stare. _She…actually_ cares _about me? Why? I’ve hurt her so much. She even says I make everyone happy. How can I make anyone_ happy _? All this time, I’ve just been trying to escape…or save others from this fate… Is everyone happy that I’m here? Why? Does Seashell actually think…that she can_ protect _me? She’s_ weak _! But…why is she so_ strong _suddenly? Even crying, she won’t give up. Why would she…protect_ me _? It makes no sense…_

Seashell turned her back on him in order to face the Pansage on the other side of the field. “I won’t let you get hurt, Smugleaf. I don’t want the others to be sad.”

“…Do what you want.” Smugleaf muttered. “I don’t care.”

Seashell smiled. “Sure.”

.o.o.o.o.

Darren watched the exchange in confusion. He nearly jumped in fright when Smugleaf turned around, abandoning the field. The Snivy glared up at him.

**“Is the match back on?”** Casey wondered.

**“It appears your Oshawott wants to fight in your Snivy’s place,”** Cilan commented. **“How brave of it. Pansage, time to resume this battle!”**

The monkey bounded back onto the field. It smirked at Seashell, raising a paw threateningly. Seashell didn’t even flinch, raising her cracked seashell to mimic the Pansage’s paw. It was a silent challenge.

**“Pansage, use Vine Whip!”** Cilan cried.

**“Seashell, counter with Air Slash!”** Darren ordered. **“I better heal Smugleaf, too.”**

The Pansage and Seashell lunged at each other to end the battle. One had the intent to win for its trainer. The other only wanted to protect those that she cherished. Vine and shell would meet to determine the winner!


	14. Mikey's Challenge

“You can do it, Seashell!” Yorkie cried.

“You go, Shelly!” Buck cheered.

“Win this!” Charcoal shouted.

**“Here you go, Smugleaf.”** Darren smiled as he sprayed the Snivy with the Potion. **“There! All better!”**

Darkly slowly approached Smugleaf, being cautious. Smugleaf didn’t show it but she could tell he was irritated. She was treading on dangerous ground…

“You let her fight for you. Why?” she asked at last.

“Because she kept insisting on it!” Smugleaf snapped. “Besides, if she wants to lose so badly, why should I stop her? Maybe that’ll prove how weak she is.”

“Is that the only reason?” Darkly questioned. “Seashell doesn’t like to battle. Why would she willingly jump in to save you from losing?”

“How should _I_ know? She’s stupid and weak!” Smugleaf barked. “Why do _you_ care, anyway?”

“She’s still hurt,” the Purrloin muttered.

“Huh?” The Snivy looked at her, confused. “Hurt? How? She looks fine to me.”

“Do you really think she could escape completely unscathed from that Tepig’s Body Slam?” Darkly countered, eyes narrowed. “She may be out of the Pokémon Center but she is _still_ in pain.”

Smugleaf froze briefly before shaking his head. “Then that makes her even more stupid.”

“Don’t you care in the least?” Darkly asked.

“Why should I? It’s her fault I’m stuck with this human to begin with.” Smugleaf reminded. “Why should I care what happens to her?”

“You sure seemed to care when that Pansage attacked her,” Darkly commented, a devious smirk crossing her face.

“I was making sure she wasn’t dead!” the Grass-type yelled, glaring at her.

“So you don’t want her to die?” Darkly asked.

“I may hate her but wishing death on anyone is pointless. It never happens, anyway. Trust me, I’ve tried it.” Smugleaf snorted. “Besides, the human will try to get more attached to me if she dies. The last thing I want is to deal with a crying human.”

“Is that your only reason?” Darkly pressed.

“Is there something you want me to say?” Smugleaf growled, annoyed.

“…That depends on what it is you need to say.” Darkly then turned, walking away.

“…What was that about?” the Snivy grumbled. “What I need to say? I don’t _need_ to say anything!”

Abandoning that train of thought, he turned to observe the battle. Seashell and the Pansage were fighting. The Pansage was obviously winning due its type advantage. Seashell was trying to take advantage of her Air Slash but it was almost as if…something was holding her back.

_“She’s still hurt,” the Purrloin muttered._

Smugleaf shook his head, refocusing on the battle. He could see Seashell was struggling to keep up with the Pansage’s speed. Dodging vines and throwing shuriken were growing harder for her to do.

_“Do you really think she could escape completely unscathed from that Tepig’s Body Slam?” Darkly countered, eyes narrowed. “She may be out of the Pokémon Center but she is_ still _in pain.”_

The Snivy started noticing other things. Each time a vine cracked against Seashell’s seashell, she flinched. With each quick movement Seashell made, trembles racked her small body. She was gasping, short of breath.

_“Don’t you care in the least?” Darkly asked._

Smugleaf shook his head again. _Why should I care? Everything is her fault. My capture, the enslavements, my injuries… All her fault!_

A loud cry snapped him out of his thoughts. Seashell was thrown backward by a vine, just barely tossing a trio of shuriken thanks to Air Slash. The Pansage dodged the first two, yelping when the third tore into its left shoulder. Seashell struggled to stand up, only to collapse on her back again. Her breath came in short gasps.

“Seashell!” Charcoal and Yorkie both cried, frightened.

“Get up, Shelly! Hurry!” Buck encouraged.

“She’s too weak,” Darkly muttered. “She can’t keep fighting. She’s lost…”

**“It has been a fun match, young man. The feelings, the emotion, the friendship between you and you Pokémon…”** Cilan smiled. **“I hope you will return and challenge me again when you are stronger. For now, it is time for this match to end. Pansage, use Vine Whip!”**

 **“Seashell, dodge it!”** Darren cried.

The Oshawott whimpered, slowly getting to her feet. Tossing her seashell into the air, she quickly tossed out all three shuriken before being thrown back by the Pansage’s Vine Whip. She managed to barely stay standing. The Pansage dodged the first shuriken but was nailed by the other two. Both Pokémon were barely hanging in there.

**“Seashell!”** Darren cried.

**“Vine Whip!”** Cilan ordered.

**“She won’t be able to dodge it!”** Casey shouted.

_“She may be out of the Pokémon Center but she is_ still _in pain.”_

“Darn it!” Smugleaf snarled before he suddenly lunged. “Move it, Seashell! This guy’s _mine_!”

One of his vines wrapped around the Oshawott, tossing her at Darren with enough force to knock the boy over. Glowing leaves erupted from the Snivy’s shoulders, ripping apart the Pansage’s vines as they struck. The few remaining leaves struck the monkey’s body directly, throwing it back a few feet.

**“Pansage, move out of the way!”** Cilan warned.

The Pansage looked up, only being able to yelp in surprise when a leafy tail crashed into its face. The monkey howled as it was thrown backward, crashing headfirst into the far wall of the Gym. Cilan whipped around, eyes wide in shock. When the smoke cleared, the Pansage lay motionless on the ground.

**“…Did I win?”** Darren squeaked, just as shocked as everyone else.

**“…I believe you did.”** Cilan returned his Pansage and shook off his surprise, smiling at Darren. **“Well, congratulations! I never saw such an attack coming. What a splendid combination, using your Oshawott and Snivy to wear my Pansage out. You have defeated me and thus you now have your first badge!”**

Cilan placed a badge, identical to the one Casey received earlier, in Darren’s hand. The ten-year-old stared at it before jumping to his feet, whooping for joy. Seashell whimpered as her trainer practically crushed her in a hug.

**“I did it~! I did it~!”** Darren cried. **“I got my first badge~!”**

**“Good job, Darren. It wasn’t _that_ hard, right?”** Casey joked, clapping the younger boy on the back.

**“I guess not,”** Darren admitted. **_Three on one? What was I_ thinking _? The league wouldn’t do that!_**

“That was awesome, Smugleaf!” Charcoal cried. “You sure showed that monkey who was boss!”

“Yeah!” Yorkie instantly agreed.

“You did pretty good, Smuggy… _if_ Shelly hadn’t had to save you first, that is!” Buck laughed.

Charcoal and Yorkie instantly jumped in to hold the enraged Snivy back. Buck laughed, dancing out of range of Smugleaf’s vines. Darkly sighed, shaking her head before she looked up at Seashell.

“What you did was brave, Seashell, _especially_ for you.” the Purrloin commented. “Smugleaf may have lost his second battle had you not stepped in.”

“I…I didn’t want him to get hurt,” Seashell said. “Even if he’s really mean sometimes, I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Darkly couldn’t help but smile. “That’s very kind, especially in light of what he’s done to you.”

“Really?” Seashell blushed briefly in embarrassment.

“Really,” the Purrloin nodded.

“Hey, now that this match is done…I’m off! See you guys later!” Buck turned, heading for the exit.

“And where are _you_ going?” Smugleaf growled.

“Remember? I have to be somewhere. I’ll be back _soon_ , Smuggy, so keep your scales on.” Buck snickered.

“As if I’m worried!” the Snivy shouted.

“Awww! I had no idea you _cared_ so much!” the Patrat cried in mock surprise.

“I DON’T!!” Smugleaf yelled.

“Yeah, yeah! Whatever, Smuggy. See you la—AAAAAAAHHH!!”

Buck was forced to leap away as a ten-year-old girl suddenly jumped out from behind one end of the curtain. The girl, not noticing the terrified Patrat at her feet, pointed her finger at Darren. She smirked deviously.

**“I challenge you to a battle!”** she declared.

Darren and Casey both stared in shock. **“Uh… Who are you?”** Darren asked nervously. **_Why do people keep popping up out of nowhere around here?!_**

The girl smirked again. **“My name is Mikey and I’m a Pokémon trainer! I saw the battle you and Cilan had and I have to say that you impressed me! I demand a battle!”**

 **“Uh… I’d have to heal first. Plus…I’m not really in the mood to battle right now. Sorry.”** Darren admitted. **“Maybe later?”**

 **“Then get in the mood! Heal your Pokémon and let’s fight!”** Mikey demanded. **“I’m not letting such a skilled trainer escape from me!”**

 **“Hey, cool it! Darren doesn’t want to fight.”** Casey said, stepping between the pair.

**“Relax! I’ll be fighting _you_ next!”** Mikey replied.

“Who the heck _is_ this kid?!” Buck yelped, hiding behind Darkly. “She just came out of _nowhere_! She nearly _stepped_ on me!”

“Smugleaf and Seashell are _too tired_ to fight,” Charcoal whimpered. “Why can’t she wait until _later_?”

“Some trainers are adamant about battling,” Darkly explained. “They won’t back down from a fight and won’t allow others to evade a challenge.”

“What adame… Ada…? That word!” the Tepig asked.

“Stubborn,” Darkly replied. “They won’t give up.”

“Oh…” Charcoal nodded.

Darren and Casey just stared at Mikey. She had long but messy black hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a completely red cap with the bill facing backward, a red long-sleeved jacket with two white stripes on both sleeves, a white T-shirt, dark blue shorts with two white stripes on each side, white socks, and black shoes with three green stripes on the top and white shoelaces.

**“So, are you gonna heal or what?!”** Mikey demanded.

**“I don’t want to fight, okay? My Pokémon are exhausted!”** Darren complained.

**“Geez! You must be _stupid_ or something!”** Mikey grabbed his sleeve, dragging him out of the Gym and toward the Pokémon Center. **“If you want to heal your Pokémon, you have to go to Pokémon Center! You must be a real beginner if you don’t know _that_!”**

**“I know how to use a Pokémon Center, okay?! I just don’t want to battle right now!”** Darren shouted, wrenching his arm free of the girl’s grip.

**“Geez! Calm down, man! I just want to battle. You guys look really strong, okay? Is it so wrong to want to fight strong guys?”** Mikey asked, the smirk never leaving her face.

**“It is when we don’t want to fight.”** Casey replied, finally catching up with them.

**“Okay, look. I’m sorry. I just get overexcited when I meet strong trainers, okay?”** Mikey explained. **“If we can’t battle now, then maybe later? Tomorrow, maybe?”**

Darren sighed. **“Fine, I’ll battle you tomorrow.”**

 **“Me, too,”** Casey agreed.

**“Sweet! Thanks, guys!”** Mikey cried. **“I’m definitely looking forward to i—”**

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud scream. Humans and Pokémon alike looked around, trying to find where the sound came from. Buck was the first to realize its location.

“Aw, man! I hope those creepy knight guys didn’t do anything!” The Patrat dashed away.

“Buck! Wait for us!” Yorkie ran after him.

“Smugleaf, come on! Someone’s in trouble!” Charcoal cried, following him.

**“That came from the Dreamyard!”** Casey realized.

**“Should we call the police?”** Darren asked, suddenly afraid.

**“The police won’t do anything! Come on, you two!”** Mikey grabbed their arms, dragging the two boys with her. **“Let’s check it out!”**

Seashell, Smugleaf, and Darkly followed as their trainer was dragged out of Striaton City and into the Dreamyard. Yorkie and Charcoal were waiting for them at the entrance. Buck was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Buck?” Seashell asked.

“I don’t know! We lost him!” Yorkie whimpered, tears springing to his eyes.

“We’ll find him. He couldn’t have gone far.” Darkly purred reassuringly, wiping away the Lillipup’s tears with a paw.

**“Now that we’re here, let’s start searching! Ready or not, whoever you are! Here we come!”** Mikey cried.

**“I don’t like this,”** Darren complained.

He was ignored. Mikey kept going, searching for the source of the scream. It wasn’t long before they found something…or some _one_.


	15. Team Plasma's Crimes

Kneeling on the grass in front of them was a crying girl. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were dirty. There were some bruises on her wrists and a few scratches on her arms and legs.

Darren stared in shock. **“You’re the girl from before!”** he cried.

**“You know her?”** Casey asked.

**“I saw her when I went through here earlier. She was gone when I left, though.”** Darren explained.

Casey knelt beside the sobbing girl, resting a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, staring at him in terror before crying out in relief. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

**“Thank Arceus! I thought somebody would _never_ come!”** she cried. **“You’ve got to help me! There are some men in the Dreamyard! They’re trying to hurt something! And they stole my Pokémon!”**

**“Do you know what they’re trying to hurt?”** Mikey asked.

**“No. I never saw what they were hunting for. They took my Pokémon, hoping to use them to catch it,”** she explained, wiping away her tears. **“They kept me hostage until two kids came and saved me. They’re still in there, but I think there’s too many of those men. Please, could you help them?”**

 **“Sure! Why not?”** Casey nodded.

Mikey crossed her arms, frowning. **“Pokémon thieves, eh? Why can’t they get their _own_ Pokémon?”** she growled, angry.

**“Some just see it as easier to steal trained Pokémon from others than to train them up themselves,”** Casey replied. **“Let’s find those guys and get those stolen Pokémon back!”**

**“What about her?”** Darren asked.

Casey looked at the girl. **“Can you make it back to Striaton by yourself?”**

The girl nodded, sniffling. **“I think so,”** she said.

 **“Then get there and tell the police what happened. We’ll deal with those thieves in the meantime.”** Casey promised.

**“Okay. Thank you so much!”** The girl staggered to her feet and ran toward Striaton City.

“Do you think Buck went after those thieves, too?” Charcoal wondered.

“Didn’t Buck mention some ‘knight guys’ being here?” Yorkie commented. “Could he have meant those weird guys from before?”

“What weird guys?” Darkly asked, confused.

“Back in the last town we were in, we saw these guys in weird clothes. They were talking about setting Pokémon free.” Seashell explained. “Smugleaf really liked them. I don’t think Darren did, though. He got really mad about it.”

Darkly froze, eyes wide. “Were they called…Team Plasma?”

“Yeah! That’s what they said!” Yorkie nodded. “Have you heard of them, Darkly?”

The Purrloin looked away, fur rising. “Yes,” she hissed, eyes narrowed. “I know them _all too well_.”

“How?” Seashell asked.

“They were there the day my trainer released me!” Darkly hissed angrily. “It was after we got our second badge…”

.o.o.o.o.

**_“You guys did great! The third badge will be a piece of cake!”_** _a boy with spiky blonde hair cried._

_“It should be. It’s a Bug-type gym after all!” a cream dog with a mustache-like patch of fur on his face and a shaggy dark blue pelt on his back barked._

_“Don’t get too cocky, Leonard. We almost lost this one. The next one, regardless of type, will be stronger.” Darkly purred, licking a dainty paw._

_“She’s right, Leonard. Bug-types can be tough too, you know,” a gray pigeon with a white chest and gray stripes on her black wings chirped, glaring down at the dog harshly._

_“We get the point, Mina! We’ll be careful! Relax already!” a black and white zebra with a jagged spike on his head shouted, clearly annoyed._

_“Maybe_ you _should relax, Ricker.” Leonard replied gently._

 _“Relax?! How can I_ relax _?! I barely got to fight this time!” Ricker argued._

_“Both of you, calm down.” Darkly advised._

_All of them were interrupted when they saw a group of strangely dressed men and women addressing a crowd of people. The four of them obediently followed their trainer as he approached the crowd. When they heard what was being said, the boy’s eyes widened in shock and fear._

_**“Why should Pokémon be forced to do as we command? Free the Pokémon and, with their happiness, shall come our own!”** a man with pale green hair wearing a strange blue and gold cloak called. **“All we have done is bring pain and suffering to the Pokémon through our battling! It is not a natural part of their lives! We want them to be happy, correct? Then set them free! It shall free us of our hidden guilt and them of their pain!”**_

_“Is this guy serious? What a joke!” Ricker snorted. “Who’s he to talk? How does he know what we want?”_

_“Personally, I’m happy living the way I am.” Leonard said. “Battling isn’t that bad. It’s fun and it helps me get stronger.”_

_“It was more painful for me being wild,” Mina admitted. “I was always beaten up by the stronger Pidove. I like being here. I’ve got friends now.”_

_“I agree,” Darkly purred. “If anything, many wild Pokémon envy us for having a human care for us. We no longer have to hunt or worry about guarding territory. We are safe and loved.”_

_“That guy’s nuts,” Ricker decided, glaring at the man as the speech ended. “I hope he ends up dead in a ditch somewhere.”_

_“Don’t say that. That’s mean! Even if that guy says bad stuff, you shouldn’t say that!” Mina argued._

_“Whatever,” Ricker backed down, frowning. “We’re happy being with a trainer. That’s all that counts, right?”_

_“Yeah,” Leonard nodded. “Who’d want to go back to the wild, anyway? Besides, our trainer would never release us. He loves us too much!”_

_“Yeah! He does!” Mina cried._

_“Agreed,” Ricker grumbled. “Even if he makes dumb mistakes sometimes…”_

_“Humans aren’t perfect, Ricker. We know ours well enough.” Darkly reassured. “He wouldn’t abandon us. He needs us as much as we need him.”_

.o.o.o.o.

Darkly lowered her head, hiding her tears. “I was _wrong_. I guess I _didn’t_ know my trainer that well…at _all_.”

.o.o.o.o.

_“Hey! What are you_ doing _?!” Ricker shouted as his Poké Ball was smashed under the blonde boy’s foot._

_**“I’m so sorry, guys. If I had known I was hurting you, I would’ve never caught you to begin with.”** He wiped tears from his eyes. **“It’s okay, though. You’re free. You can go home now.”**_

_“I don’t_ want _to go home, you idiot! I don’t_ have _one!” Ricker shouted._

_**“Yeah, I know. You’re mad at me. You deserve to be. I hate myself, too.”** The boy walked away. **“Goodbye, Ricker. Have a nice life. I’m sorry that I nearly ruined it for you.”**_

_“Wait! Come back!” Ricker yelled. “Come back here! You can’t_ do _this! What about your_ dream _?!”_

_The boy walked a bit further down Route 3 until he reached another patch of grass. Unleashing Mina, he proceeded to break her Poké Ball as well. The pigeon gasped, trying to gather the broken shards in her wings._

_**“Goodbye, Mina. I’m sorry for everything horrible I did to you.”** he apologized._

_“You didn’t_ do _anything horrible. You_ saved _me.” Mina sobbed. “Who’s going to protect me_ now _?”_

_The boy turned and walked away, unable to understand his Pokémon’s cries. As far as he was concerned, they were happy to be free. Or they were angry at him for catching them at all. All that mattered was that they were free now._

_Upon reaching Route 2, he unleashed Darkly. The Purrloin looked up at him in confusion when she saw his tears. She reached up to lick them away._

_“Is something wrong?” she asked, despite knowing he couldn’t hear her words._

_**“I’m so sorry, girl. Please forgive me.”** He stood up, dropping her Poké Ball to the ground. **“I’ve done something horrible to you and the others. Feel free to hate me, okay? I deserve it.”**_

_“What are you talking about?” Then she noticed the absence of Ricker and Mina’s Poké Balls. “Where is Ricker? And Mina? I thought you didn’t like using the PC.”_

_The boy lifted his foot. **“Goodbye, girl. You’re free now.”**_

_It suddenly hit Darkly. Her trainer was doing what those strange people wanted! Ricker and Mina were gone! Released back to the wild!_

_“No! Don’t!” she cried, lunging to try and save her Poké Ball._

_It broke into a dozen little pieces before her eyes. Darkly skidded to a stop, frozen in shock. She barely registered her trainer’s next words._

_**“Leonard isn’t a Lillipup anymore, so I can’t release him on Route 1. I heard that there were Herdier in the Cold Storage at Driftveil City. If I can get there, I’ll release him. It’s the least I can do for what I’ve done to him.”**_

_He walked away, leaving Darkly there. Night had fallen before the cat snapped out of it. She looked up, afraid. He was gone…_

_“Team Plasma,” she hissed, remembering the name that the strange man had called his group. “I won’t forget you. You’ll pay for this. That’s a promise!”_

.o.o.o.o.

Darkly looked away, wiping her unshed tears away with a paw as she struggled to regain her composure. “As you can see, I know Team Plasma very well. They stole my old life from me and for that, I won’t rest until they pay for taking Leonard, Mina, and Ricker from me…and my trainer…”

“But if they hadn’t done that, we’d have never met you!” Yorkie cried, tears building up in his eyes. “So, despite how bad it was, it turned out okay. You’ve got us!”

“Yes… That’s right. I do, don’t I?” The Purrloin chuckled. “It still doesn’t ease the pain of my losses.”

“Then maybe we can find them!” Charcoal exclaimed.

“What?” Darkly looked up at the Tepig in surprise.

“You said that your friends were on Route 3, right? That’s not far from here!” Charcoal replied, excited. “Maybe when we get there, we can look for them!”

“What about my trainer? And Leonard?” Darkly questioned. “They will be harder to find. The Cold Storage is very far away and my trainer could be anywhere by now.”

“Then we’ll just keep looking until we find them!” Charcoal declared. “Right, Yorkie?”

“Yeah! We’ll help!” the Lillipup cried.

“That’s very sweet…but it’s no use.” Darkly said. “Ricker and Mina may have been captured by other trainers. What are the chances that they’re still there?”

“Well…” Charcoal looked at the ground, unable to answer.

“You never know until you try,” Seashell said at last. “If we don’t find them, then that’s that. But we have to try, at the very least. Right, guys?”

“Right!” Charcoal and Yorkie chorused.

The Purrloin couldn’t help but smile. “…Thank you…”

“No problem!” Charcoal cried.

“That’s what friends are for, right?” Yorkie reminded.

“We’ll always be there for you, Darkly.” Seashell said.

**“Hey! There’s an opening over here!”** Casey called, breaking the happy moment between the four Pokémon.

Darren and Mikey headed over to Casey, who stood beside a large opening in the fence. The entire section of fencing had been torn away, leaving a gap large enough for people to enter it in single file. There were footprints on the ground, signaling that a lot of people had gone through the gap recently.

**“Do you think those thieves did this?”** Mikey asked.

**“It _has_ to be them. Who else could’ve done it?”** Casey countered.

**“Are we really going in there?”** Darren asked, suddenly nervous. **“Shouldn’t we wait for the police?”**

 **“That could take _forever_! Come _on_!”** Mikey entered quickly, looking back at the boys. **“Come on, you Torchics!”**

“I can smell Buck. He must’ve gone through here.” Yorkie said, nose to the ground. “ _Oh_ , I hope he’s _okay_!”

“I’m sure he is,” Darkly reassured.

“Come on. Are we going to get that idiot or not?” Smugleaf demanded, dashing through the opening.

Once Darren and Casey passed through, Darren’s Pokémon followed. They carefully crept around the edge of the building, hunting for an opening. Upon finding an open door, they quickly headed in.

Inside were two kids surrounded by a large group of people decked in knight-like clothes. Mikey and Casey glared at the thieves while Darren gasped in surprise. Smugleaf stared in shock at the thieves.

**“Those are the guys from Accumula Town!”** Darren whispered. **“The ones preaching about liberating Pokémon!”**

 **“You’re _kidding_!”** Mikey hissed, looking back at him. **“How can they preach liberation when they’re _stealing_?”**

 **“Are you _sure_ these are the same guys, Darren?”** Casey asked.

**“How many people do _you_ see running around in knight clothes?!”** Darren demanded.

“Darkly! That’s them! Those Plasma guys!” Seashell cried.

The Purrloin hissed, fur fluffing in rage. “So we meet again, Team Plasma. It’s time to get back at you for what you did to me.”

“See, Smugleaf? I told you they were bad!” Yorkie whimpered, looking at the Snivy. “Smugleaf? Hey, are you okay?”

The Snivy said nothing. His body had frozen in place. He simply stared. _No way. These guys are supposed to be_ helping _us. This_ has _to be wrong. It has to! There’s no way this can be…real…_


	16. Rescuing Munna

**“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s help those two out and get that girl’s Pokémon back!”** Casey urged.

**“Yeah! Let’s go!”** Mikey agreed.

**“Maybe we should wait for the cops?”** Darren argued. **“We should let them deal wi—”**

“Mommy!”

“Hey! Look!” Seashell cried.

Between the two kids, curled up on the ground, was a pink Pokémon with a floral pattern on its skin. It was covered in cuts and bruises. The poor creature cowered in the grass, crying softly.

“Do you think those Plasma guys did that?” Charcoal whimpered.

“I’ll bet _my tail_ they did!” Darkly growled.

“Let’s get in there and help those guys!” Yorkie cried. “They look like they need help!”

“Let’s,” Darkly hissed, fur bristled in rage.

Darkly led the charge, hissing and yowling as she flung herself upon the various Patrat and Purrloin that the Plasma grunts had unleashed to attack the two kids. Yorkie and Charcoal followed, lashing out against their opponents. Seashell paused, looking back at Smugleaf.

“Smugleaf…”

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care,” the Snivy snorted, lunging into the fray with vines snapping violently.

After a moment, the Oshawott hesitantly followed.

.o.o.o.o.

The two kids looked up in surprise when a bunch of Pokémon suddenly dove into the fray, fighting back against the Patrat and Purrloin called out by the Team Plasma grunts. Then they spotted the trio of trainers that had entered the warehouse.

**“Hey! Over here!”** the girl called.

She was tall with olive tan skin, straight brown hair, and hazel eyes. She had a slender hourglass figure that no doubt made guys stop and stare. She wore a brown blouse, black skirt, black leggings, and black ballerina shoes.

**“About time someone showed up!”** the boy laughed.

He was a few inches taller than the girl. He had fair skin, spiky golden-brown hair, and blue eyes that seemed warm and vibrant. He wore a blue hat with a gray Poké Ball symbol on it, a blue sleeveless six-pocket vest, blue gloves with gray fingers, a long-sleeved gray undershirt, blue cargo jeans, and blue shoes with gray trim. On his back was a blue and gray backpack.

Darren, Casey, and Mikey reached them in no time.

**“Holy! What is that thing?”** Mikey asked, spotting the pink Pokémon between the pair.

**“A Munna!”** the girl replied. **“These guys were attacking it!”**

 **“I think they wanted the Dream Mist from it,”** the boy admitted. **“Good thing we got here when we did. They looked ready to kill it or something!”**

**“Are those Pokémon yours?”** the girl asked, looking at the Pokémon that had arrived moments ago.

**“They’re mine,”** Darren admitted. **“Uh… I’m Darren. These guys are Mikey and Casey. Who are you guys?”**

**“I’m Calvin. This is my sister, Camille,”** the boy, Calvin, introduced.

**“We’ll all chat nicely later. Let’s kick these guys’ butts before they can track down another Munna!”** the girl, Camille, barked harshly.

**“Good call!”** Casey nodded. **“Riolu, show them your stuff!”**

**“Emon! Show these guys our power!”** Mikey cried.

A black squirrel with yellow cheeks, round ears, a white underbelly, and yellow wing-like flaps under his arms popped out of the Poké Ball. It was an Emolga. Around his neck was a spiky black pattern that resembled the spiky bib on a Pichu.

**“Pidove, you’re up!”** Camille called.

**“Togetic, get out here!”** Calvin yelled.

A white fairy-looking creature appeared. It had short wings and hollow triangle patterns on its lower body that were red and blue. The top of its head was spiky.

**“Whoa! Those things look so cool!”** Mikey declared.

**“Less fawning, more fighting!”** Camille snapped, annoyed.

**“Forgive my sis. She’s not the friendliest girl in the world,”** Calvin said.

Camille glared at her brother, who jumped back in fear.

**“Let’s teach these guys a lesson. Hurting Pokémon won’t be tolerated!”** Casey growled, glaring at the surrounding grunts.

.o.o.o.o.

As the others furiously fought against the grunts’ Pokémon, Yorkie managed to creep over to the Munna’s side. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Mommy… I want…my mommy…” the Munna sobbed.

“Mommy?” Yorkie looked around. _I don’t see anything that looks like her…_ “D-Don’t worry! I’ll go find your mommy, okay?”

“R-Really?” the Munna sniffled, looking up at him tearfully.

“Y-Yeah,” Yorkie nodded. “I’ll be right back, but don’t worry. My friends will protect you. They’re really strong! They won’t let you get hurt. Then I’ll bring your mommy back and everything will be okay. So don’t worry!”

“O… Okay,” Munna nodded, giving him a watery smile. “Thank you…”

“N-No problem!” the Lillipup barked bravely. _I just gotta find her mommy. It can’t be that hard. This place isn’t that big…_

Yorkie ducked back into the fray, frantically searching the tall grass for anything resembling Munna.

.o.o.o.o.

_Where is he? Where’s that guy?_ Buck wondered, diving beneath clashing claws and snapping vines and blasts of various energies. _He’s gotta be here somewhere!_

**“Purrloin, get up! Stupid cat!”**

The Patrat smirked. _Bingo! Found you!_

He soon spotted a grunt up ahead. He was yelling at a Purrloin that had been defeated only moments ago by a blast of fire from Charcoal. Buck couldn’t help but grin.

_Looks like the others found me. Good!_

“Hey, man, why not take a break. Unwind, you know?” Buck snickered, shooting up the man’s leg. “Let me take some of that weight off of you.”

**“What the? Hey! Get off, you!”** the grunt cried, shaking his leg in hopes of throwing the chipmunk off.

Buck held on, waiting until the time was right to jump. Teeth sank deep into the belt around the man’s waist, cutting through the leathery material with ease. The grunt’s pants instantly began to sag without the belt holding it up.

**“Gah! My pants!”** the grunt cried in shock, struggling to hold his pants up.

“I’ll be taking this!” Buck declared.

He kicked off of the grunt’s legs, taking the belt with him. A trio of Poké Balls was attached to it, the Purrloin’s Poké Ball still in the guy’s hand. Buck disappeared swiftly into the tall grass, leaving the battling to his teammates. If he stuck around, he might get mistaken for one of the enemy.

Besides, Darkly had that Shadow Claw to prove her identity. He had nothing.

.o.o.o.o.

Yorkie yelped as claws tore against his side, sending him tumbling into the grass. The purple feline followed him, hissing angrily. The puppy struggled to escape, crying out as he felt blood seep into his cream fur.

“Ow! Munna’s mommy! Are you out here?” he called desperately.

Yorkie’s voice was abruptly muffled as the cat pounced on him, smashing his face into the ground. The cat smirked, tail wagging.

“Well, well, look what I caught! A puppy? How cute,” she purred. “Just who is it you’re calling for?”

“Leh moo guh,” Yorkie struggled to say through the dirt in his mouth.

“Huh? What was that?” the Purrloin giggled. “Did you say ‘I give up’? Smart move, puppy.”

“Nuh! Awe seh—”

The Purrloin gave a yowl as something crashed into her, sending her flying back into the tall grass. Yorkie coughed, spitting out the dirt in his mouth. Once his mouth was clear, he staggered to his paws and shook his head. Everything hurt, especially his side where the claws had caught him.

“Ow…” he whimpered.

“Are you all right, little one?”

“Huh?”

Yorkie looked up to see a large purple creature levitating off of the ground. It had stubby pink paws and a light pink head. A plume of smoke came from a hole on the top of its head. In that curled up position, it almost looked like…a Munna…

“Are you Munna’s mommy?!” he exclaimed.

“Munna? Yes! Where is she?” the creature asked, worried.

“Follow me!” Yorkie cried.

The puppy dashed back through the tall grass, heading back to where the battle was. The creature followed him closely, worry practically radiating off of her form.

.o.o.o.o.

“Darn it! How many of these guys are there!” Darkly hissed, tossing away another Patrat.

“They won’t stop coming!” Riolu complained, launching another Aura Sphere at their attackers.

“My goodness! Persistent, aren’t they?” Togetic asked.

“You have no idea,” Pidove squawked, dive-bombing another Purrloin.

“Don’t give up! We can still win!” Charcoal encouraged, crashing down with another powerful Magnitude.

“Has anyone seen Buck yet?” Seashell called, slashing with her scalchop.

“No,” Darkly replied. “On that note, where is Yorkie?”

“Oh no! Not him, too!” the Oshawott wailed.

“We’ll find them when we end this! Keep fighting!” Riolu encouraged.

Smugleaf ignored all of them, focusing all of his rage and hate into his strikes. _Why? I thought you guys were on our side? Why are you doing this? How could you hurt us like this? Was all of that talk just a rouse? How could you! You filthy liars! You’ll pay… I’ll make you pay for lying to me!_

His strikes were harsh and wild, smashing into not just Pokémon…but the grunts themselves. Many fled under the assault, terrified of the crazy Snivy. His actions didn’t escape the notice of the trainers.

**“What’s up with your Snivy?”** Calvin asked.

**“He’s attacking everyone! Even the grunts!”** Camille realized.

**“He doesn’t like people,”** Darren struggled to explain. **“We had a bad experience in the gym…and even before then! I guess Smugleaf’s just plain mad. Try to keep out of his way, okay?”**

**“That’s not normal,”** Mikey muttered.

**“Smugleaf’s not exactly normal,”** Casey admitted. **“But you’ll get used to him. It seems like he has trust issues. He doesn’t like people much, but he absolutely loves to battle. Maybe he loves it too much?”**

**“Obviously,”** Camille huffed.

**_Smugleaf, what’s wrong with you?_** Darren wondered. **_You were fine in the gym. Why are you still acting like this?_**

A majority of the grunts had fled, recalling their Pokémon as they ran away. There were only two left. Both of them seemed to be getting pretty mad.

**“You… Get out of our way!”** one of them ordered.

**“We aren’t leaving without that Dream Mist!”** the other shouted.

**“Too bad! You’re not hurting this Munna anymore!”** Calvin barked, glaring at them. **“Aren’t you guys supposed to be protecting Pokémon, not hurting them?”**

**“We _are_ helping them! We’re setting them free of foolish kids like you who abuse them!”** the first grunt countered.

Camille growled, teeth grit. **“You say _we’re_ abusing them yet here _you_ are, kicking a Munna and expecting it to give you Dream Mist. You guys have a twisted way of protecting stuff! You better back off or I’ll send your sorry butts straight to hell!”**

**“You don’t get it, do you? We aren’t leaving. Step aside or—”**

**“Or you’ll what?”**

Both grunts jumped, whipping around to see Ghetsis behind them.

**“Go on. What’ll you do? I’d love to hear it,”** he prompted.

**“G-Ghetsis!”** one of them grunts yelped, falling back on his butt in shock.

**“H-How did you get here? I though you went to Nimbasa!”** the other grunt exclaimed, frightened.

**“Did I? Or did I say that simply to see what you morons would do without my supervision?”** Ghetsis challenged, smirking.

“No way!” Seashell yelped. “It’s the creepy guy from before!”

“Ghetsis,” Darkly hissed, claws unsheathing. “He’ll pay for what he did to me… To my team… To my trainer…”

**“You two are pathetic! How dare you make a buffoon of me with your actions?”** Ghetsis snarled, stepping forward. **“You dare to dirty the name of Team Plasma with your disgusting actions? You imbeciles! I told you to get Dream Mist, not assault a group of children and go against my campaign!”**

**“…What the heck?”** Camille said.

**“I’m lost,”** Calvin deadpanned. **“ _Who’s_ the bad guy here?”**

 **“I…don’t know,”** Darren admitted.

**“This is definitely weird,”** Casey agreed. **“Why is that guy here? Better yet, where’d he come from? He wasn’t there a moment ago.”**

**“Oh! You’re right!”** Mikey realized.

“Maybe he’s magic?” Seashell suggested.

“Humans aren’t magic. Nothing is,” Darkly purred, fur smoothing again. “Though I have an idea what’s going on here now.”

“Huh?” Charcoal looked at her in confusion.

“…Ah! I get it as well!” Togetic cried.

“Clever,” Pidove chirped, amused.

“What? What is it? Come on, tell me!” the Tepig pleaded, looking at the trio.

**“If you dare show your faces to me or any member of Team Plasma again, I shall see to it you rot in a jail cell for the rest of your pathetic lives!”** Ghetsis declared. He pointed to the exit. **“Now then, get out!”**

Both grunts quickly obeyed, fleeing for their lives. The group stared at Ghetsis in amazement. Calvin sighed, approaching the green-haired man.

**“Hey, dude, sorry about all that. Maybe you aren’t such a bad guy after a—”**

Ghetsis suddenly turned into smoke, disappearing. Calvin cried out, jumping back and fall flat on his butt in shock. Out of the grass came Yorkie, followed by the purple creature that was Munna’s mother.

“Munna! I found your mommy!” Yorkie declared proudly.

“Munna!” the creature cried.

“M-Mommy!” Munna sobbed, levitating up and diving against her mother’s side. “Mommy!”

“It’s okay, sweetie. Mommy’s here,” she reassured gently.

**“Whoa! What’s that thing?”** Darren yelped, shocked.

**“A Musharna,”** Casey realized. **“I never knew you could find them in the Dreamyard…”**

“Mommy!” Munna wailed tearfully.

“Yorkie! You’re hurt!” Charcoal cried, dashing over to the Lillipup’s side. “What happened? We were worried! You just disappeared!”

“I went to find Munna’s mommy,” Yorkie explained. “I got attacked by a Purrloin along the way, but Munna’s mommy saved me. I led her here but you guys were still fighting those two knight guys. Munna’s mommy did something with her smoke and made that creepy guy from Accumula show up!”

“Wait! You mean he _wasn’t_ actually here?!” Seashell exclaimed.

“It was an illusion caused by Musharna’s Dream Mist,” Darkly purred. “Quite clever…”

“Indeed! Nicely done! You had us all fooled!” Pidove chirped in praise.

“I was actually scared for a moment there,” Togetic admitted, giggling in embarrassment.

“Same,” Emon agreed, rubbing the back of his head. “Quite the shock, seeing him here out of the blue.”

“Phew! At least he wasn’t real,” Riolu sighed in relief.

“Yeah! That was scary!” Yorkie agreed. “And I knew what it actually _was_!”

The Pokémon laughed amongst themselves. Their trainers seemed to do the same upon reaching that conclusion.

“Thank you for saving my child,” Musharna said.

**“Telepathy,”** Casey guessed.

**“No problem! Nobody should ever hurt a Pokémon like that!”** Calvin declared.

**“Especially so-called ‘Pokémon liberators’,”** Camille growled. **“Sick, twisted, pieces of… Grrrr!”**

Musharna looked to Yorkie. “Thank you most of all, little one.”

“No problem! I know what it’s like to get lost from my mom. It’s scary,” Yorkie admitted shyly. “But…everything’s okay now!”

“Y-Yeah,” Munna nodded, smiling. ‘Thank you! All of you!”

“Be safe,” Darkly wished.

“Bye!” Seashell cried, waving.

Musharna turned, heading back into the deep grass. Munna quickly hurried after her. After a few rustles, there was no sign either Pokémon had ever been there.

“At least they’re okay now,” Charcoal said. “I’m glad those men are gone now. They were bad people!”

“Team Plasma overall is bad,” Darkly muttered, frowning. “…You’ve been quiet, Smugleaf.”

“I’m fine. If anything, I’m better than ever,” the Snivy smirked. “Those guys were all filthy liars, but not that guy in the robe. Ghetsis, right? You heard him. Those guys were all going against him.”

“…You _do_ know that was an illusion, right?” Darkly reminded.

“So? It acted just like him. He said everything I would. Just because these guys attacked s doesn’t mean he’s like them. He still wants liberation, just like me,” Smugleaf said, arms crossed over his chest.

“Oh no,” Yorkie whimpered.

“But Smugleaf, those guys tried to hurt us! And that Munna!” Charcoal complained.

“But they didn’t. We beat them. And we’ll keep beating anyone that tries to hurt us,” Smugleaf said. “That’s all humans do, anyway. They just make us do what they want without a care.”

“But Smug—”

“Drop it,” Darkly advised, paw over Charcoal’s mouth. “If that’s what he wants to believe in, let him. As long as he doesn’t force his views on us, that’s solely his opinion.”

“…Okay,” the Tepig muttered, looking away.

**“Well, that was rough. We better head to the Pokémon Center. No doubt all of our Pokémon need it,”** Casey suggested, returning his Riolu. He looked at Calvin and Camille. **“Are you guys coming with us?”**

 **“Sure, why not?”** Calvin shrugged, calling back Togetic.

Mikey and Camille called back their Pokémon, too. The group of trainers headed to the hole in the gate, stepping through it with ease. Then Darren suddenly stopped, looking around wildly.

**“Darren, what’s wrong?”** Casey asked, confused.

**“We forgot to look for Buck! And that girl’s Pokémon!”** Darren cried.

Casey slapped himself on the forehead. **“Crud! You’re right! We didn’t even _try_ to look for them!”**

**“What are we going to tell that kid? ‘Sorry, we couldn’t find your Pokémon, go catch some new ones’?”** Darren demanded, practically ripping his hair out.

**“Uh, guys? She’s right there,”** Mikey pointed out.

Darren and Casey turned to see the girl. She was on the ground, laughing and crying. She clutched a trio of Poke Balls in her hands. A torn belt was in front of her, along with…

**“BUCK!”** Darren cried.


End file.
